Teach Books: Yourself

IK TEACH YOURSELF BOOKS
N. Scarlyn Wilson
SPANISH
This
ant;
SPANISH
This book hopes to make the task of learning Spanish pleas-

ant as well as profitable. It provides a good grounding in
the essentials of the language and tells the reader something
about Spain. Anyone who has worked carefully through the
lessons should be able to make himself understood in Spanish-
speaking countries and tackle a book or newspaper in
Spanish.
TEACH YOURSELF BOOKS

Anyone who works through this volume intelligently should
be able to read and speak Spanish. No adult student of
Spanish should fail to obtain this excellent course of
instruction.
Journal of the Incorporated
Association of Assistant Masters
SPANISH
N. Scarlyn Wilson
M.A.
V
TEACH YOURSELF BOOKS
Hodder and Stoughton
First printed iq3q
Twelfth impression igyj
Copyright Notice: No part of this publication may be

reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means,
electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording,
or any information storage and retrieval system, without
permission in writing from the publisher.
This volume is published in the U.S.A. by David McKay

Company Inc., 750 Third Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10017
isbn o 340 05819 6
Printed in Great Britain

for Hodder and Stoughton Paperbacks, a division of Hodder
and Stoughton Ltd, Mill Road, Dunton Green, Sevenoaks, Kent
(Editorial Office: 47 Bedford Square, London WCi jDP)
by Richard Clay (The Chaucer Press), Ltd., Bungay, Suffolk
PREFACE
Spanish, whether for cultural or commercial reasons, is
well worth studying. It is spoken not only in Spain, but
throughout Latin America, with the exception of Brazil,
and even there, where the official language is Portuguese,
you could make yourself understood. That is, of course,
if you can also make yourself understood to a Spaniard.
It is the purpose of this book to enable you to do so.

When you have worked through it, you should be in a
position to read any Spanish novel or newspaper, to speak
enough of the language to be able to converse and to write
it comprehensibly, though your rendering will not be fault-
less.
This book follows in the main the model of Teach Your-
self French, published in the same series. There are several
reasons for this. In the first place, I hope that some who
studied that volume may be encouraged to tackle this one,
and, knowing the ways of the first, they will find it the
more easy to embark upon its companion. Secondly, what
proved successful in one case, may reasonably be considered
likely to prove acceptable in. another, so that people coming
fresh to this book should be able to make as good use of it
as those who studied Teach Yourself French.
At first sight it would seem that, by following the
methods of another volume, I lay myself open to a charge
of plagiarism. This accusation leaves my withers (whatever
they may be) unwrung. For, as I was responsible for
modernising Sir John Adams' admirable Teach Yourself
French, I see no reason why I should not be allowed to
borrow from myself. After all, as the lunatic very
luminously observed :
" If I can't bang my head against
my own "mantelpiece, whose mantelpiece can I bang it
against ?
vii
PREFACE
This book, then, follows the same lines as Teach Yourself
—
French so far, that is, as the different natures of the two
languages will permit. It aims at steering a middle course
between dreary sentences about Grandmother's thimble
and phrases 01 idiomatic slang. For those, by the way,
who do want to acquire racy up-to-date idiom, I would
recommend the perusal of Brighter Spanish, by Sr. L. de
Baeza (Bles), and of Brush Up Your Spanish, by the same
author (Dent).
Obviously, however, one must first have something to
brush. It is the modest aim of this book to provide that
foundation, to give any student of it a knowledge of the
essentials of Spanish, to tell him something about Spain,
and to fit him to learn a good deal more about both. If
this purpose is in any way achieved, it will be largely due
to the help given me by Srta. Miren de Albizuri of Bilbao,
especially in the preparation of the Spanish passages for
translation.
I am also obliged to Mr. Gil Nevaz, whose suggestions
have led to some corrections and improvements in this
edition of the book.
N. Scarlyn Wilson.
P.S. —There are certain differences between the Spanish

of Spain and the tongue of S. America. Still, the structure
and essentials are the same, though the pronunciation and
the use of certain words are not identical. But anyone
who has gone from Somerset to Lancashire will be aware
that such divergencies are not confined to Spanish. Guapo,
for instance, means handsome to one man and brave to
another. With us, to greet does not mean the same thing
to the Scot as it does to the Englishman. But we contrive
to understand one another. So does it matter ?
INTRODUCTION
HOW TO USE THE BOOK
The purpose of this book is to enable the student to learn
Spanish, and that without any help other than that which
this book provides. It is not a formal grammar. Never-
theless each fact is presented as it is required in the process
of preparing the student, in the smallest possible number
of lessons, for the task of reading Spanish.
The two parts of the book are complementary. Part I
contains most of the actual instruction, together with a
series of exercises in turning Spanish into English and vice
versa. The Spanish-English exercises, up to Lesson XV,
are distinguished by the letter a, the English-Spanish by
the letter b. Part II contains a Key to all the exercises
in Part I. In addition, it supplies by means of Notes a
good deal of information to cover any points of difficulty
arising in the various exercises. Part I contains sufficient
information to enable the student to tackle the exercises.
Part II throws light upon difficulties which can only be
fully realised after an attempt has been made to do them.
Both Parts should be carried on abreast, since any given
exercise in Part I implies a knowledge of everything in
Part II prior to the Key to the actual exercise concerned.
The book should be worked through systematically.
Thus, for instance, Exercise $a in Part I should be written
out and corrected by means of the Key to it in Part II,
before 56 is attempted. A careful comparison of his
version with the correct one will help greatly to increase
the student's understanding of the points explained in the
lesson. When uncertain how to turn an English sentence
into Spanish, the best course is to refer to the preceding
set of Spanish-English sentences, which will nearly always
provide a model on which to work.
ix
x INTRODUCTION
It may
be advisable to halt and revise after every five
lessons. A
good way of doing this is to study each lesson
in Part I, as at the first reading, but for exercises to turn
to the corresponding section in Part II, and then use
Part I as the key to correct these. This gives entirely
fresh practice, since what was formerly English-Spanish
now becomes Spanish-English.
Students who find the exercises difficult might work in
this way After studying each lesson carefully, translate
:
the Spanish into English and check by reference to

Part II. Then, instead of turning back to Part I, stay at
Part II, and do the Spanish-English there, using Part I as
the key. Thus the student would write the English for 5a
in Part I and correct it by 56 in Part II. Then he could
write the English for 56 in Part II and correct it by 56 in
Part I. By this means he could go through the whole
book doing nothing but Spanish-English, afterwards work-
ing through a second time, but in the regular way.
Students who find little difficulty in going through the
book in the normal manner might revise the whole by
doing all the exercises in the form of Spanish-English
exercises.
This book, then, can be used in many ways, in each of
which the student will find within it all that he needs
to test his work.
The Vocabulary at the end is Spanish-English only.
From a choice of two or three Enghsh equivalents for a
Spanish word it is easy enough to choose the one that suits
the English translation. But to choose the right Spanish
word out of two or three to fit into a Spanish version of an
English sentence is much more difficult. The proper place
in which to look for the Spanish equivalent of an English
word is one's memory rather than a dictionary, for the
reason that the words in our memory are there because we
have actually used them. Experience tells us what they
mean. But a word borrowed from a Spanish-English
dictionary may be quite wrong. The word " office/ for
example, may be rendered, as a dictionary will show, by
oficio. But to use it for a man going into his office is quite
wrong. The word we want is oficina or, possibly, despacho.
By using this book and storing the word in our minds
INTRODUCTION xi
when we come across it, this mistake and others, inevitable

if a dictionary is our sole means of information, can be
avoided.
The Vocabulary has been made as short as possible,
consistent, that is, with the satisfactory working of the
exercises. This has been done by the omission of those
words which occur very frequently and which the student
cannot fail to have mastered after doing a very few of the
opening lessons. A short table of definitely irregular verbs
is provided immediately prior to the Vocabulary. But
these are few in Spanish. There are, however, a large
number of verbs which deviate slightly from the normal.
The rules governing these are explained in some of the
later lessons. But, as it is impossible to tell from the look
of these verbs whether they do indulge in little eccentricities,
not amounting to irregularities, the ist Person of the
Present Tense is shown in brackets in the case of the verbs
which are slightly abnormal in this respect. With the
explanation given in the lessons these verbs will then
present no difficulty.
Another reason for the shortness of the Vocabulary is
that, since there is a worked-out version for every exercise
in the book, an elaborate word-list is not needed. Never-
theless it cannot be too strongly emphasised that the Key
should not be used as a short cut. The exercises are so
arranged that, in almost every case, you can find the
translation of every Spanish and English word used in
them, either in the Vocabulary or in some previous exercise.
In any case, before the Key is referred to, the student
should at least make an attempt at producing a version of
every sentence. He has a right to depend ultimately on
the Key for help ; but if he is to obtain any lasting profit
from using this book, he must not resort to consulting the
Key whenever he finds himself in a momentary difficulty.
The mere fact of facing a problem helps one to appreciate
the ultimate solution, whereas if every difficulty is removed
by immediate reference to Part II, little impression is made
on the mind, and no lasting benefit can result. A dic-
tionary, too, should the student have one, should be used
with caution. It is an excellent idea in translation to
guess at the meaning of a word and then check the accuracy
xii INTRODUCTION
of the translation by reference to the dictionary. It londs
a certain sporting element to the pursuit of knowledge.
Observation of these various points should enable the
student to make the best use of the information obtainable
from this little book.
NOTE
When this book was first published the rate of exchange
was about 29 pesetas to the pound sterling. It is now
about 167. In this edition, therefore, alterations have been
made here and there to take this into account, but the
reader should remember that rates of exchange are liable to
fluctuate.
—
TAMTCMTC
PAQB
INTRODUCTION . ix
PART 1
SPANISH PRONUNCIATION
LESSON
I. VERBS AND PRONOUNS
GENDER
.... 15
23
n.
hi.
IV.
NUMBER —POSSESSIVES
CONTRACTIONS OF WORDS
.... HABER
26
DO
XT
V. AJJ J ÜOli VH5
A T^TT7r"TT"\7T?C TtTTT
1 xlH "R
VH/KX> ' TH
1 \J "RTT
JJ-tL
'
. .
37
VI. DEMONSTRATIVES AND POSSESSIVES .
VII. INTERROGATIVES —REGULAR VERBS .

A
46
A
VIII.
IX.
VERBS
SUPERLATIVES
......
—
—
COMPARISON OF ADJECTIVES
IMPERFECT TENSE
FUTURE OF
X. THE PAST DEFINITE TENSE —COMMON PRE-

POSITIONS 59
XI. PRONOUNS 64
XII. OBJECT PRONOUNS —REFLEXIVE VERBS 69
the object pronoun
XIII.
XIV. RELATIVE PRONOUNS

CONJUGATION OF REGULAR VERBS
....
(concluded) . 74
78
XV.
XVI.
XVII.
FIRST READING LESSON
COMMON IRREGULAR VERBS
.... . 84
87
9i
xiii
xiv CONTENTS
LISSOM FA01
THE INFINITIVE
XVIII.
XIX.
XX.
INDEFINITE PRONOUNS
THE PASSIVE VOICE
....
....
95
99
103
XXI. ADVERBS I08
XXII. ORTHOGRAPHIC CHANGES IN VERBS . . II3
XXIII. THE NUMERALS Il8
xxiv. the numerals (continued) . . . 123
XXV. PARA AND POR 128
RADICAL CHANGING VERBS
XXVI.
XXVII.
XXVIII.
USE OF THE ARTICLES
THE SUBJUNCTIVE
.... . . . 132
138
144
xxix. the subjunctive (continued) . . . 150
xxx. conditional sentences . . . 156
note on the participles . . . 158
conclusion 159
PART II
KEY TO EXERCISES AND TRANSLATIONS . . . IÓ2

TABLE OF COMMON IRREGULAR VERBS . . . Zig
VOCABULARY 224
PART I
SPANISH PRONUNCIATION
No one can learn to pronounce Spanish properly from a

book. Yet, if you learn a language at all, you want your
accent to be reasonably correct. This book can, at least,
set your feet on the right path. Of course, if your object
in learning a foreign tongue is only to read and write it,
you might pronounce the words according to the rules of
English. To do so, however, would surely be an unworthy
shirking of difficulties, and would certainly halve the value
of your studies. This book cannot give you a good Spanish
accent, but it can offer hints which will enable you to
produce sounds recognisable to a Spaniard. It wül help
—
you to know the difficult sounds those that are tricky
for an Englishman to master. Then, experience of hearing
a Spaniard speak will make it easy for you, once the
foundation is laid, to correct by your own ear the short-
comings in your pronunciation.
For this reason you should try to hear as much Spanish
spoken as you can, even though you may not, at first,
understand a great deal of what is said. Still, you will get
the " feel so to speak, of the language, and that is half
the battle. Thanks to the radio, almost every student
nowadays has the opportunity of hearing Spanish spoken.
You should make a point of listening as often as possible
to broadcast plays, speeches or news bulletins. Gramo-
hone records, too, are useful, if you can get hold, either
y purchase, cajolery or violence, of the admirable set
issued by the Linguaphone Company. In any case, there
is a supplementary method of improving your accent which
is simple and very useful. Practise reading aloud (prefer-
ably by yourself to avoid domestic squalls) from a Spanish
novel or from one of the newspapers, such as El Sol, which
can be readily obtained from the Librairie Hachette
13
—
i6 TEACH YOURSELF SPANISH

(127 Regent Street, London, W.i) or through any
reasonably enterprising newsagent. One word of warning,
however. Many people (chain-smokers, for example I) can
or, at least, do speak English with a cigarette in their
mouths. An Englishman cannot hope to do his Spanish
accent justice if he tries to speak with a Woodbine (or even
a Balkan Sobranie) adhering to his upper lip. There is no
need to gesticulate wildly in talking a foreign tongue, but
the Spanish sounds cannot be properly uttered unless free
play be given to the muscles of the jaw. So don't light
that cigarette until you have finished your readmg
aloud !
Accent. —
Most people know at all events a little French,
and are therefore aware that, in that language, the pro-
nunciation of words is often affected by the presence or
absence of an accent. This piece of knowledge must not,
however, be applied indiscriminately to Spanish. In
Spanish only the acute accent (') is employed. Its uses
are as follows :
(1) To indicate that the emphasis or stress is to be

laid on the vowel over which it is placed.
(2) In such words as cuando (when) and donde (where!
to make them interrogative. ¿ Cuándo ? = When r
¿Dónde? = Where?
Note that Spanish the signs of interrogation (also of
in
exclamation) are placed both before and after the phrase,
the first one being inverted.
(3) To distinguish between words spelt alike but of

different meaning : el = the, él = he.
Note that, as opposed to the French practice, the acute
accent in Spanish does not alter the actual pronunciation
of the word (save in indicating the syllable to be stressed);
Unless you are in exceptionally good form, you will not
be able to master the following remarks on Spanish pro-
nunciation at one sitting. But try to get the general drift,
and then refer back constantly
nunciation of words you encounter when you have started
the exercises.
SPANISH PRONUNCIATION i?
—
Pronunciation of the Vowels. The Spanish vowels are a,
e, i, o, u, and y. a sounds like ah, the vowel-sound in far ;
e sounds like ay, the vowel-sound in late * or y sounds

;
like ee, the vowel-sound in feet o sounds like o, the vowel-

;
sound in rope u sounds like oo, the vowel-sound in hoot.

;
Note, (i) The vowels are clearly pronounced in Spanish,

whereas consonants are frequently suppressed. Even when
the syllable is not stressed, the vowel in it retains its sound,
though perhaps more faintly.
(2) y is a vowel only when standing alone, as in y »
and,
or at the end of a word, e.g., rey king. =
Stress in Pronunciation. —
The principal rule is so im-
portant that it deserves to be printed in capitals.
IN WORDS ENDING IN A CONSONANT THE LAST SYLLABLE
IS STRESSED.
IN WORDS ENDING IN A VOWEL THE LAST SYLLABLE BUT
ONE IS STRESSED.
IN WORDS CONFORMING TO THESE RULES THE PRINTED
ACCENT MARK IS NOT NEEDED AS A GUIDE TO PRONUNCIA-
TION AND IS THEREFORE DISPENSED WITH.
Note that the consonants n and s, often added to form
the plural of a word, do not affect the stress. It would be
unreasonable if they did. The stress, therefore, is always
on the same syllable in the plural as it is in the singular.
It follows from this that those words whose pronuncia-
tion is not according to the general rule take an acute
accent on the stressed syllable to show where the emphasis
does fall. Hence a word ending in a vowel, but pronounced
with the stress on the last syllable, requires the accent
mark on the last syllable, as this is a breach of the main
rule.
Thus yo hablo
: =
I speak, but él habló he spoke. =
In the past tense the stress comes on the last syllable,
and this, being contrary to the general rule for the pro-
nunciation of words ending in vowels, needs the accent
mark to indicate it.
Again, a word ending in a consonant (other than n or

if
s) is stressed elsewhere than on the last syllable, this, being
contrary to the rule for the pronunciation of words ending
in a consonant, must be indicated by the insertion of the
accent mark over the syllable where the stress does fall.
Thus : difícil «= difficult
lápiz —
pencil.
;
Finally, follows that all words accented on a syllable

it
previous to the last but one require an accent mark, because
such pronunciation is a breach of the rule whether the word
ends in a vowel or a consonant.
Thus médico
: doctor— according to rule the stress
;
should come on the second syllable; as it does not, the

accent syllable must be indicated. Again régimen
: m
diet.
All this sounds somewhat complicated. Actually, it is
quite simple. You have only to bear constantly in mind
the general rule and put the accent mark on the stressed
syllable of any word tnat does not conform with it.
Pronunciation of Two or More Vowels. Two strong —
vowels coming together are pronounced separately and
form distinct syllables.
deseo =
desire; real =* real (pron. day-say-o, ray-ahl).
a, o, e are called strong vowels, i and u weak vowels.
If one of the pair of vowels in a word is i or u, the other
vowel takes the emphasis, the i or u being only lightly
pronounced, so that the two vowels count as one syllable.
E.g., viaje =
voyage (pron. ve-áh-hay).
If i and u occur together, the stress is on the one which
comes last, the two again counting as one syllable, the
first vowel being passed rapidly over.
E.g., ruido =
noise (pron. rooéetho) viuda
; =widow
(pron. veeóotha).
Note that in these diphthongs the unstressed i or u
almost loses its vowel force, the letters becoming equivalent
to y and w. Thus, for instance, the pronunciation of
muy very, could more fairly be represented by mwes
than by moo-ee.
In some words the accented vowel is the weak not
the strong one. In this case the accent mark must be
inserted, and since the vowels now each have their force,
the word is not a diphthong.
E.g., tio =
uncle (pron. tée-o).
Remember that a diphthong (i.e., a combination of two
weak vowels, or of one strong and one weak, but not of
two strong vowels) counts as one syllable. Words ending
in a vowel are normally accented, as we have seen, on the
;
SPANISH PRONUNCIATION 19
last syllable but one. In iglesia church, the stress falls«

on the e, but no accent mark is required, because sia is
only one syllable, the two vowels forming a diphthong.
Pronunciation of Consonants. The letters k and w occur —
in Spanish only in words of foreign origin.
The consonants /, k I, m, n, p and x are pronounced as
t
in English; the letter w is pronounced according to the

rules of the foreign language of the word's origin.
b is not as forcibly sounded as in English. The student
should aim at producing a b slightly less downright and
emphatic than the English sound.
Examples : bueno = good ; bianco = white ; bastante
= enough.
c has two sounds. Followed by e or i it is pronounced
like th in thin. In other cases it has the hard sound of k.
Examples : centro = centre ; vecino = neighbour

contar = to relate.
ch is pronounced like ch in charm.
Examples : muchacho — boy ; mucho = much.

d is pronounced much the same way as in English.
in very
This is when it is the first letter of a word or
particularly so
is immediately preceded by an n or an /. It is, sometimes,
however, more lightly pronounced than in English as, for
instance, in such endings as -ado or -ido.
Examples : diente = tooth ; donde =» where ; marido =

husband; entregado = delivered.
g has two sounds. Followed by e or i it has a guttural
sound like the ch of the Scottish word loch. In other cases
it has the hard sound of g in gate.
Examples : gigante =
giant ; general (hehnehrahl) =
general ;
gato =cat.
h, for all practical purposes, is not pronounced.

Examples : hablar = to speak ; ahora = now.
20 TEACH YOURSELF SPANISH
4 has the same explosive sound that the Spanish g ha*
when followed by e or t.
Examples : jugar = to play ¡
bajo = low.
U has the sound of lit in the English million.
Examples : caballo = horse ; calle » street.
In many parts of Spain 11 is pronounced like a double y t
but the student should avoid this.

ñ (with the tilde to distinguish it from the ordinary n)
has very much the sound of ni in the English words onion
and companion.
Examples : niño = child ; mañana — to-morrow.
q, always followed, as in English, by u, has the sound of
Examples : quince =* fifteen ;

siquiera =» at least.
r is rolled more than in English, especially at the begin-

ning and end of words.
Examples : tomar — to take ; río = river ; geografía

— geography.
s has the hissing sound of s in taste and never the sound
of s in pleasure.
Examples seso
: = brain ; sábado = Saturday ; visitar
to visit.
t is pronounced more sharply and vigorously than in

most English words.
Examples : traer = to bring ;
trabajo = work.
v is pronounced very much as in English, though less so
in some areas of Spain or Latin America.
Example : viejo — old.
y is only a consonant at the beginning of a word or

syllable; it is then more vigorously pronounced than in
English.
Examples : ya ** already ;
yo « I ;
yegua — mare.
SPANISH PRONUNCIATION 21
x sounds like th in thin.
Examples : zapato mm shoe ; juez judge ; brazo mm

arm.
Note. —In Spanish America and some parts of Spain this
lisping pronunciation of z and of c (before e or i) is not
followed. But it is the practice in Castille, generally sup-
posed to be the place in which the best Spanish is spoken,
so the student would do well to observe it.
—
Pronunciation. A useful way of practising the pro-
nunciation of single Spanish words is to learn off the
numerals from one up to twenty. The pronunciation given
is according to the rules of English. But remember that
the unstressed vowels are passed rapidly over.
I. uno (mase), una (fern. 1, pronounced oóno, oóna.

2. dos 9$
dose.
3- tres 99 trace.
4. cuatro 99 koóahtro.
5- cinco 99 thínko.
6. seis 99 sáyiss.
7- siete -rr seáytay.
8. ocho 99 ocho.
9- nueve 99 noo'áyvay<
10. diez 99 deéth.
11. once 99 ónthay.
12. doce 99 dóthay.
13- trece 99 tráythay.
14- catorce 99 kahtórthay
15. quince 99 kínthay.
16. diez y seis
17. diez y siete
18. diez y ocho
19. diez y nueve
20. veinte 99 váyintay.
Liaison. —In
speaking English we do not always pro-
nounce each word in a sentence separately. We are apt
to run some of them together. Sometimes this is due to
slovenliness. But in Spanish, in certain instances, it is
perfectly correct. The word naranja means an orange.
When the name of this fruit first passed into English, it
might possibly have been spelt " a norange ". Ultimately
the n was transferred from the noun to the article. But
when we say the words quickly, it is almost impossible to
tell where the letter belongs. This running together of
words to produce a pleasant, smooth sound is called liaison.
It is very widely used in French. In Spanish, in speaking,
though not in writing, if a word ends in a vowel (as so
many do) and is followed by a word beginning with a
vowel, the two are pronounced as though both formed
part of the same word. This does not mean that you
should slur all your words together; far from it. feut
when you come across a vowel at the end and beginning
of adjoining words, don't be afraid of running them
together. At all events, don't keep them rigidly apart.
E.g., mi abuelo = my grandfather, would sound mia-bue-lo ;
una iglesia = a church, would sound u-nai-gle-sia.

To round off this section, here is a passage from a
Spanish book printed in ordinary type and underneath, in
italics, the equivalent English sounds. It will be worth
your while to study this extract carefully, and to read it
aloud to yourself, preferably more than once. The sign
(-) over an a or o indicates the long sound as in far or tow.
Siguiendo el curso del arroyo, y sobre todo en

Seeghee-enthoel koorso del ahrroyio, ee sobray totho en
las hondonadas, hay muchos álamos y otros
las onihonahthas aee moochdss áhlahmdss ee otróss
,
árboles altos, que, con las matas y hierbas,

áhrboles ahltoss, kay, kon las mahtas ee yerbas
crean un intrincado laberinto y una sombría
krayan oon eentreenkatho lahbayréento ee-oona somhréea
espesura. Mil plantas silvestres y olorosas
esspaysoora. Meel plahntas seelvestres ee ólórohsas
crecen allí de un modo espontáneo, y por
kraythen al-lyee day oon tnotho espontáhnayo, ee, por
cierto que es difícil imaginar nada más
theeáirto kay ess deeféethü eemahinar nahtha más
esquivo, agreste y verdaderamente solitario,
eskievo, ahgr estay ee vairthathairaméntay soleetareeo
apacible y silencioso que aquellos lugares.
ahpahtheeblay ee seelentheeoso kay ahkellyos loogares.
VERBS AND PRONOUNS 23
LESSON I
VERBS AND PRONOUNS

One great difference between English and Spanish
(French, too, for that matter, which, like Spanish, is largely
derived from Latin) is that Spanish, far more than English,
indicates changes of meaning by changes in the ending of
words. For instance, let us choose the English word to
take, of which the Spanish equivalent is tomar. Like the
to before the English verb, the ar at the end of the Spanish
verb tells the Spaniard that only the general idea of taking
is concerned without reference to who is doing it or at
what time or by what means. This part of any verb which
tells the idea of the verb and nothing more is called the
infinitive. So to take and tomar are both infinitives.
When a verb makes a plain statement, it is said to be
in the indicative mood, and if the action is now going on,
we have what is called the
Present Indicative
I take yo tomo,
thou takest tú tomas,
he (she) takes él (ella) toma,
we take nosotros tomamos,
you take vosotros tomáis,
they take ellos (ellas) toman.
In English the pronoun / is always written with a

capital. In Spanish yo is written with a small y, except
when it begins a sentence.
If we caU the part of the verb that does not change, the
stem, and the part that does, the termination, then tak-
and torn- are the stems. In English we have three termina-
tions : -e, -est and -es in Spanish we have six
; -0, -as,
:
-a,-amos, -áis and -an.

It follows that the Spanish terminations are more in-
formative than the English. It is true that takest must be
used with thou, and takes with he {she or it). But take
might go with / or we, or you or they. In Spanish there is
no such uncertainty. The termination o of necessity goes
withyo, as with tú, a with il (ella), amos with nosotros, ais
with vosotros and an with ellos (ellas). This means that
where two words are needed in English to make the meaning
clear, one would suffice in Spanish. In fact, though during
the early exercises the pronouns should be inserted for
practice, later on we shall find that we can often omit
them without making the meaning less clear. This differ-
ence between the two languages is illustrated again in the
Future Indicative
I shalltake yo tomaré,
thou wilt take tú tomarás,
he (she, it) will take tomará,
él (ella)
we shall take nosotros tomaremos,
you will take vosotros tomaréis,
they will take ellos (ellas) tomarán.
Here again the Spanish terminations are all different, so
that the pronouns are not indispensable, as they are in
English. (Note, incidentally, the accent marks and their
effect on the pronunciation as compared with the Present
Indicative.)
The difference caused by the different pronouns is known
in grammar as person. The person speaking is always first
person so yo and nosotros, meaning / and we, are first
:
person. The person spoken to is always second person :
so tú and vosotros, meaning thou &nd you, are second person.

The person or thing spoken about is always third person :
so ¿l (ella) and ellos (Mas), meaning he (she) and they, ara

third person.
Wehave seen that all the terminations of the Spanish
verb in the Present Indicative are different no two are
:
alike. These endings are well worth noting, firstly because,

when we know them, we can find out the person, whether
the pronouns are there or not, and, secondly, because a
very large number of other Spanish verbs besides tomar
have these same endings. The Future Indicative termina-
tions are even better worth studying, because the Future
tense of every Spanish verb has the same terminations as
tomar.
VERBS AND PRONOUNS 25
Exercise 1
(a) Put the proper pronouns before the following verbs :
(1) compramos; (2) hablas; (3) trabajan; (4) andáis; (5)

tocaré; (6) jugaremos; (7) pasarán; (8) dejará; (9) vivi-
réis; (10) comprarás.
(b) Put the proper terminations to the following verbs,
using the present tense for the first five sentences and the
future indicative for the last five: (1) tú toe-; (2) ellos
trabaj-; (3) nosotros habí- ; (4) vosotros and- (5) él pas-;
;
(6) nosotros dejar-; (7) tú trabajar-; (8) yo vivir-; (9)

ellos hablar- (10) vosotros comprar-.
;
(c) The verb comprar (to buy) exactly resembles our

model verb tomar. stem is compr-. Write out in
Its
Spanish, referring to the model if necessary, the three
persons of the singular and of the plural of both the
Present Indicative and of the Future Indicative of comprar.
We now come to a point of great importance. The

English thou is practically never used. We use you whether
we are addressing one person or a crowd. In Spanish, tú
is only used in Biblical or poetical style, and in addressing
close relations, small children and animals. One would
expect, therefore, that vosotros would be used in all other
cases, like the English you. But this is not so. Vosotros
is only used in speaking to two or more of the beings in
addressing whom the familiar tú would be used, were there
but one of them. How, then, are we to translate you,
because, even if we have Spanish acquaintances, we are
unlikely to be on sufficiently intimate terms with them to
be justified in using the familiar tú or vosotros ? And to
do so without having the right would be unpardonably
rude.
Spanish politeness is proverbial. The word you is
rendered by usted (singular) and ustedes (plural). Usted
is a contraction of Vuestra Merced, meaning Your Honour
or Your Grace. This is the only form of you that the
student is ever likely to use in addressing adults or to hear
addressed to himself. For purposes of reference the parts
of tenses preceded by tú and vosotros will be given, but the
translation of you which we shall invariably use (except
—

occasionally for practice in exercises) is usted (Plural
ustedes). But, having made up our minds to translate
you (singular) by usted, and you (plural) by ustedes, we have
got to be careful about using the right person of the verb
with these pronouns. Remember that, though we regard
usted as meaning you, strictly speaking it means Your
Grace. In other words, it is really third, not second person.
Therefore despite its meaning you, the verb with usted will
always be, whatever the tense, in the third, and not the
second, person. In the light of this new piece of knowledge
let us look once more at the Present Indicative of tomar.
It will now be :
yo tomo I take,
(tútomas) (thou takest).
usted toma you take,
toma
él (ella) he (she) takes,
nosotros tomamos we take,
(vosotros tomáis) (you take),
ustedes toman you take,
ellos (ellas) toman they take.
. Notes, (i) The two forms bracketed will practically

never be used.
(2) Instead of writing usted in full, it is shortened to Vd.
As it really stands for Your Honour, it is written with a
capital letter, whereas the other pronouns have a small
one. Similarly in the plural Vds.
Nosotras, vosotras and ellas are the feminine forms of
(3)
nosotros, vosotros and ellos, as is ella of él.
Henceforward, unless the use of tú or vosotros is specially
indicated (by the word " familiar " in brackets), you will
be translated always by Vd. or Vds. and the verb will be
in the third person.
LESSON II
GENDER
There is in grammar a thing called gender which presents
no difficulty to English people. For us gender corresponds
to sex. The name of a male creature is masculine, of a
——
GENDER 27
female feminine, of an inanimate object, a thing, neither

masculine nor feminine, but what we call neuter. A soldier
is masculine, a cow is feminine, a book is neuter, and that
is the last word to be said in the matter. Spanish is not
so accommodating. A table mesa, for instance, is =
feminine a ship
; =
buque, is masculine, and, as far as
nouns are concerned, there is no neuter at all. A Spanish
noun must, that is to say, be either masculine or feminine.
It is not so much a matter of sex, as of the termination or
derivation of the word.
Unfortunately no very satisfactory rules for knowing the
gender of a Spanish noun at sight can be given.
But here are some : — *
1) Nouns ending in a, d, ion or z are feminine.

2) Nouns ending in 0, or, al or ador are masculine.
(3) Male beings (men, well-known animals, etc.) are
masculine, even though the noun may end in a.
(4) Female beings (women, well-known animals, etc.)
are feminine.
These rules are not infallible, but they will be decidedly

helpful.
Corresponding to this difference in gender of nouns there
is a difference in the form of the words (articles and
adjectives) that go with them.
The definite article the has the following singular forms
in Spanish :
el (masculine). la (feminine).
The indefinite article a or an has the following forms in

Spanish :
un (masculine). una (feminine).
Masculine nouns require a masculine, feminine nouns a

feminine article.
El hombre, the man. La mujer, the woman.

El muchacho, the boy. La casa, the house.
El amigo, the (male) friend. La puerta, the door.
El libro, the book. La mesa, the table.
Un soldado, a soldier. Una manzana, an apple.
—

Just as the article must " agree " in gender with the
noun following it, so also must the adjective that qualities
or " goes with " the noun. This point, howevei. will be
dealt with in a subsequent lesson.
The Verb to have in Spanish is tener.
Here is the Present Indicative :
yo tengo I have,
tú tienes) (thou hast).
d. tiene you have (singular),
él (ella) tiene he (she) has.
nosotros tenemos we have,
(vosotros tenéis) (you have).
Vds. tienen you have,
ellos (ellas) tienen they have.
Have I? Has he? etc., are rendered by reversing the

—
order of the words e.g., ¿tengo yo? ¿tiene él?, etc. Has
the man ? =
¿ tiene el hombre ?
Not is translated by no, which is placed before the Verb —
e.g., yo no tengo =
I have not. ¿ no tiene él ? has he not ? =
¿no tienen los hombres? =
have not the men.
The word got in such expressions as / have got a dog is
not translated =
Tengo un perro.
Exercise 2(a)
El muchacho tiene un libro. 2. La casa tiene una
i.
puerta. 3. El amigo comprará una manzana. 4. ¿ No
tiene Vd. una mesa ? 5. Ellos no tienen un libro. 6.
; Tomarán Vds. la manzana ? 7. Yo no tengo un caballo,
o. ¿ Compraremos nosotros la mesa ? 9. La mujer no
tiene una casa. 10. ¿ Cuándo comprará él el libro ?
Exercise 2(b)
We have a house. 2. Haven't you (singular) a book ?
X.
3 The boy will take the apple. 4. The woman buys the
house. 5. Have you (familiar plural) a horse? 6. The
house hasn't a door. 7. They have a house. 8. Will you
(plural) not take the book? 9. Have we a table? 10.
The man has not a house.
—
GENDER 29
There one further point about the use of the singular

is
article. The Spanish for water is agua. This is feminine.
One would therefore expect the water to be la agua. But
this is very awkward to say clearly, particularly as, accord-
ing to the general rule, the stress falls on the first a of the
noun. So, to avoid the combination of two distinctly
pronounced a's, the masculine form el of the article is
substituted for la. This is merely for ease of pronunciation.
It does not alter the gender of the word :agua is still
feminine, so that an adjective agreeing with it would be in
the feminine gender. As the letter h is not pronounced
in Spanish, the same alteration is made with nouns
beginning with that letter. So we can express it in this
way :
Feminine nouns beginning with accented a or ha require

the form el (not la) when the article comes immediately
before the noun. If an adjective comes between the two
this change is not made.
Thus we should say el agua » the water el hacha
: ; =
the axe el ala
; =
the wing, although these words are all
feminine. But we should say la araña = the spider
: la
;
hazaña = the exploit and la alfombra = the carpet,

;
because in these words the stress does not fall on the first
syllable.
(It is worth noting, in passing, that this rule applies to
nouns, not to adjectives you do, for instance, write la
:
alta dignidad =
the lofty rank. There is no need to bother
about this. The point is only made in case you should
encounter in your reading a phrase that seems to break
the rule previously given to you.)
Exercise 2(c)
1. Has she not the carpet? 2. You will take the axe.
3. Where shall I buy the water ? 4. The man and woman
have not a horse. 5. Shall we take an axe? 6. Haven't
you a carpet ?
— — —
TEACH YOURSELF SPANISH
LESSON III
NUMBER— POSSESSIVES
In Spanish, as in English, the singular of a noun is
generally made into the plural by adding s soldado a : =
soldier soldados
; soldiers. =
If a noun is plural, the article accompanying it must
likewise be plural.
The definite article has the following plural forms :
Los (masculine) = the plural of el.

Las (feminine) = the plural of la.
Similarly un has the plural form unos, and una the plural
unas. The plural meaning of both is some [any). Actually
some {any) is generally omitted in Spanish. I have some
money = Tengo dinero.
Nouns ending in a vowel form their plural by adding s
to the singular :
El palacio = the palace. Los palacios = the

palaces.
Una iglesia = a church. (Unas) iglesias =* some
churches.
El agua (fern.) =* the water. Las aguas =* the waters.
Nouns ending in a consonant or in y add es to the

singular :
La ciudad = the city. Las ciudades => the cities.

El tren = the train. Los trenes =* the trains.
El rey = the king. Los reyes = the kings.
If, however, a word ends in the singular in z, the plural

is formed by changing z into ces.
El lápiz (pencil), plural los lápices.
La voz (the voice), plural las voces.
We shall see later that adjectives form their plurals in

the une way as nouns.
NUMBER— POSSESS IV ES 3i
Possessives
The following some very important posses-
table shows
sive adjectives. THESE WORDS CAN ONLY BE USED BEFORE
NOUNS.
Masculine. Feminine.
Sing. Plural. Sing. Plural.
My . . . . mi mis mi mis
Thy . . . . tu tus tu tus
His (her, its) . su sus su sus
Our . . . . nuestro nuestros nuestra nuestras
Your . vuestro vuestros vuestra vuestras
Their . . su sus su sus
We have seen that the Spanish article must " agree " in
gender and number with the noun it precedes. There is a
difference between the English and Spanish (or French)
attitudes towards possessives. If a man owns a book, we
talk about his book. If two men own a house, they will
speak of our house. But in Spanish we have got to
remember that the gender of the possessive word is deter-
mined not by the sex of the owner, but by the gender of
the thing possessed. The word casa (house) is feminine.
Therefore, just as the article used with it must be feminine,
so must the possessive adjective, whatever the sex of the
owner. So, if a house is owned by two males, they must
not say nuestro casa, but nuestra casa, because the Spanish
noun is feminine.
Similarly, two girls, referring to their motor-car, must
speak of it as nuestro automóvil, because the noun is
masculine. This rule presents no difficulty in the case of
mi, tu and su, in which the masculine and feminine forms
are identical; but with nuestro and vuestro you must be
continually on the look-out.
There is another thing to remember. It was pointed
out in the previous lesson that you will, for all ordinary
purposes, always be rendered by Vd. or Vds. and never by
tú or vosotros. Now, Vd. (meaning literally Your Honour)
is third person. The corresponding possessive, therefore,
cannot possibly be tu or vuestro, which are second person.
In other words, since we have excluded tú and vosotros as
normal renderings of you, so also we must rule out tu and
vuestro, in all their forms, as translations of your. In
writing a formal refusal in the third person to a wedding
reception, it would be wrong to adaress the hostess as
M
follows Mr.
: X
regrets that he cannot accept the kind
Invitation of Lady Duckweed on the occasion of the
p
marriage of your daughter \ Since the reply is couched
in the third person, the writer must put "her daughter".
In the same way, since we are to translate you by the
third person expression Vd. (Vds.), so we must render your
by the third person possessive. Consequently, in addition
to His, her, its and their, su, a very hard-worked word,
is used also for your. Thus su sombrero may mean his
:
hat, her hat, possibly its hat, and certainly your hat.
One might expect this to result in confusion. Actually
the pronoun or noun used with the verb will nearly always
Eut the exact meaning of su in any particular sentence
eyond doubt. Thus él tiene su sombrero would obviously
:
mean " he has his hat ". But if the man has appropriated
another's property, you could make the meaning clear by
writing ¿l tiene el sombrero de (of) Vd. i.e., "he has your —
hat ". But this construction is only necessary in ambiguous
cases. Normally su will do for your, as well as for his,
her or ITS.
Vocabulary
luego « shortly, immediately. llegar «* to arrive.
botella = bottle. con « with.
habitación = room. de — of, from.
vino = wine. a = to, at.
taza mm cup. en = in.
café (m.) =* coffee. plaza = square.
estación station. hay = there is, there are.
Note. —In this and all the lists of words that follow, the
gender is not indicated unless the word is an exception to the
rules given in Lesson II.
Exercise 3(a)
i. En el centro de la ciudad hay una plaza. 2. El tren
llegará luego a la estación. 3. El hombre toma una taza

CONTRACTIONS OF WORDS —THE VERB HABER 33
de café con sus amigos. 4. Nuestro rey tiene un palacio

en la ciudad. 5. Tenemos quince libros. 6. El general
llega en el tren con su mujer. 7. ¿Tiene Vd. su botella de
vino? 8. Yo hablaré a mis amigos. 9. ¿No tiene Vd.
mi sombrero? 10. En la estación de nuestra ciudad hay
diez trenes. 11. La mujer y su marido llegarán luego en
su automóvil. 12. En la plaza de nuestra ciudad hay una
iglesia. 13. Tenemos en nuestra casa diez habitaciones.
14. ¿Cuando llegaremos a Madrid? 15. ¿Tiene Vd. los
libros de mi amigo ? 16. El comprará la casa de Vd. 17.
No hay agua en mi botella. 18. Mi amigo y su mujer
tienen una casa en la plaza de la ciudad.
Exercise 3(b)
1. My
grandfather takes a cup of coffee with his wife.
2. Thesoldier hasn't his bottle 01 wine. 3. My
friend and
his wife will take the train immediately. 4. Your friend
has a house with eight rooms. 5. We shall arrive at
Madrid in our car. 6. There are twelve houses in the
street. 7. She will buy some apples. 8. Have you wine
in your bottle ? 9. We shall buy a house in the centre of
the town where there is a square. 10. They have two
motor-cars, the doctor has six horses. 11. Will you not
buy my house? 12. When will you take your hat? 13.
The women and their husbands will take the train. 14.
Kings have their palaces, we have our houses. 15. I will
speak to my husband and (to) his friends. 16. Will you
not buy some pencils? 17. Where is there a church?
18. I will buy your house it has seven rooms.
:
LESSON IV
CONTRACTIONS OF WORDS — THE VERB HABER
We
have seen that of or from is translated by de and
to by a. Thus, of the house and to the church are
or at
rendered by de la casa and a la iglesia respectively. One
would therefore expect of the palace and to the king to be
translated as de el palacio and a el rey. But this would
—

sound ugly. Consequently de el is contracted to del and a
el to al, and we write del palacio and al rey. No such
contraction, however, takes place with any other form of
the article but el, because in other cases the ugly sound does
not occur. Thus to the men
: =
a los hombres and of a
father (mother) =
de un(a) padre (madre).
In English we use the apostrophe 5 to denote possession
— e.g., Johns letter or my brother's (sister's) house. In
Spanish, as in French, there is no such usage, and we must
alter the phrases to the letter of John and the house of my
brother (sister), and say la carta de Juan and la casa de mi
hermano (hermana).
The verb haber. In Spanish there are two verbs " to
have tener and haber. Of these tener is used as a principal
verb and means to hold, to possess.
Haber is used as an auxiliary verb. It cannot stand alone,
but is used to form the compound tenses, as they are
called, of other verbs. It is generally, therefore, followed
by a past participle i.e., that part of a verb which we
generally use in English after " I have —
" taken, seen,
written, etc.
Thus, I have a watch =tengo un reloj, but I have bought
(sold, lost) my watch =
yo he comprado (vendido, perdido)
mi reloj. In the first sentence it is the fact of possessing
the watch that is important, in the second the buying,
selling, or losing of it, the " have " merely indicating that
the action took place recently.
Present Tense of Haber

I have yo he.
(Thou hast) (tú has).
He (she) has él (ella) ha.
#
You have Vd. ha.
We (m.) have nosotros hemos,
We (f.) have nosotras hemos.
(You have)
You have
They (m.) have ellos han.
They (f.) have ellas han.
In compound tenses (i.e., those formed by a tense of

— —
CONTRACTIONS OF WORDS — THE VERB HABER 35
haber + some past participle) the negative no comes before

the auxiliary :
(Yo) no he visto el cuchillo = I have not seen the knife.

Vd. no ha escrito la carta = you have not written the
letter.
When the present tense of haber is used in an interrogative

sentence, the subject is generally placed after the past
participle.
¿ Han llegado los hombres = have the men arrived

? ?
¿ Han gastado Vds. su dinero ?= have you spent your

money ?
¿ No ha hallado él sus libros = hasn't he found his books ?
¿ Ha comprado ella café ? = has she bought any coffee ?
It will be noticed from this last sentence that any is

usually untranslated in Spanish before a noun.
¿ Tiene Vd. dinero ? = have you any money ?

But, of course ¿ Ha perdido Vd. el dinero ?
: have you =
lost the money?
There remains one final point to complete this lesson.
It can be best illustrated by example. Look at these two
sentences, involving the word buscar, to look for or seek ;
Busco mi sombrero =
I look for my hat.
Busco a mi hija =
I look for my daughter.
Busco a Carlos =
I look for Charles.
In English the three sentences are almost identical. In

Spanish the preposition a has been introduced before the
object in the second and third sentences. Yet what is the
difference between the three? In the first the object is a
hat, in the second a girl, in the third the proper name
of a person. On the face of it there seems no reason to
make a distinction between them. But the Spanish do.
The first object is a thing, the second and third are people.
;
From this we get this important rule. If the direct object

of an active verb is a definite person (or personified animal
or thing, as in a fable, for mstance), the preposition a,
untranslated in English, is inserted before it.
Vocabulary
llamar — to call. periódico = newspaper.
mandar = to send. bolsillo = pocket, purse.
que = who, which, that. hoy =to-day.
ayer = yesterday. bastante =
enough.
para = in order to. peseta =
peseta.
Vd(s). quiere(n) = you wish, want, like.
Exercise 4(a)
No
tengo el reloj que Vd. quiere comprar. 2. Hemos
X.
vendido ayer el libro de Carlos. 3. He escrito hoy cinco
cartas. 4. No tengo bastante dinero para comprar vino.
5. Mi hermano no ha llegado a Madrid. 6. ¿No quiere
Vd. comprar el automóvil del médico ? 7. ¿ Ha visto Vd.
al rey? 8. Hemos gastado las cuatro pesetas que he
hallado hoy. 9. Buscaremos a la hija del general. 10.
¿No ha visto Vd. el cuchillo que he perdido en una de
las habitaciones de su casa? 11. Yo llamaré al muchacho
que habla en la calle con el tío de Juan. 12. ¿Quiere Vd.
comprar (unos) periódicos? Tengo una peseta en mi
bolsillo. 13. Los generales han perdido el tren. 14. ¿ Ha
visto Vd. a los soldados que han llegado de Madrid? 15.
He vendido mis libros y tengo bastante dinero para comprar
dos botellas de vino. 16. ¿Cuándo ha escrito él a su
hermano? 17. La mujer ha mandado una carta a su hijo
que tiene una casa en Bilbao. 18. Busco el periódico que
ha perdido Juan.
Exercise 4(b)
Have you any newspapers ? 2. Have you bought the
1.
watches ? 3. Have they not sold their cars ? 4. The man

wishes to call his wife. 5. Have you seen the doctor's
uncle? 6. Have you enough money in your pocket (in
order) to buy any apples ? 7. Have you seen John to-day ?
8. Are you looking for your brother? 9. Will you send
the letter to-day ? 10. Will you (do you wish to) take
a cup of coffee? n. I will look for the newspaper which
you have lost. 12. When did you see the soldiers? 13.
Strictly, the compound tense is used when the period ol the action
1
isnot completely over (e.g. to-day), the past definite when it is (e.g.
yesterday). But at this stage the inaccuracy may be forgiven.
,
ADJECTIVES— THE VERB *TO BE' 37
John's uncle, who to-day from Madrid, has lost

will arrive
his money. 14. I have in my house ten books which you
wish to buy. 15. I will take the ten pesetas which you
have in your pocket. 16. I have not taken your newspaper.
17. Won't you (not the future) call Charles ? 18. Haven't
you seen the girl ? 19. To where have you sent the woman ?
LESSON V
ADJECTIVES— THE VERB 'TO BE'
Spanish adjectives agree with their nouns in Gender and
Number. If the noun is feminine plural the adjective must
be also. We have learned how to form the plural of nouns.
In so doing we have also learned how to form the plural
of adjectives. The rules (Praise be !) are the same.
Thus : bianco (white) plural blancos,
azul (blue) azules,
feliz (happy) felices.
As to the formation of the feminine, the following remarks

will help.
Adjectives ending in change into a hermoso I beauti-
:
ful), fern, hermosa. So, for example, with barato (cheap),

pequeño (small), rico (rich), largo (long), bonito (pretty),
casado (married), cansado (tired), ruso (Russian), caro (dear),
melodioso (tuneful), contento (pleased), etc.
Most adjectives not ending in make no difference in
form between masculine and feminine singular. For in-
stance hábil (clever), célebre (famous), valiente (brave),
:
cartes (polite), pobre (poor).

Those ending in an or 6n add a in the feminine holgazán :
(lazy) holgazana.
, So do those in or hablador {a) (talkative)
:
provided that they are not comparatives like mejor (better),

peor (worse), superior, exterior, inferior, etc., which remain
unchanged in the feminine singular.
Adjectives of nationality ending in a consonant add an
a. Thus: inglés (English), inglesa) español (Spanish),
española] francés (French), francesa) alemán (German),
alemana.
These adjectives, which are also used as nouns, to mean
the language of the country concerned, are written with
— — :

a small letter. Meaning a native of the country, they
are generally written with a capital letter :
Un labrador español =
a Spanish farmer.
La Inglesa ha aprendido francés «
the Englishwoman hat
learnt Frenen.
The Position of Adjectives

In English, adjectives generally come before the noun.
In Spanish they generally come after. This applies, for
instance, to adjectives of colour, size, nationality and to
adjectives much longer than their nouns : cafi negro (black
conee), amigos franceses (French friends), obreros aplicados
(industrious workmen). On the other hand, if an adjective
is very short, if it is little more than an ornament, if it is
a mere general epithet applying to a whole class rather than
distinctively to the one instance, or if it is used in a figura-
tive sense, it will come before the noun. For instance
una estrecha amistad = a close (literally narrow^ friendship.
Friendship is not measurable in inches or yams. The ad-
jective is used figuratively, and therefore precedes the noun.
Similarly you would translate " the learned professor
99
as
el docto profesor, because the adjective is a mere ornament.
If he were not learned, the man would not be (or oughtn't
to be) a professor. But one would certainly write : el
soldado docto, because this is distinctive (not to say unusual).
Bueno (good) and malo (bad) come before the noun. By
a peculiarity of their own, they are shortened to buen and
mal, but only when immediately preceding a masculine
singular noun. Similarly grande (great) drops the cU
before a singular noun of either gender, but only when it
indicates importance, not size. When referring to size,
it usually follows its noun :
Un gran general =» a great general.

Un general grande =* a tall general.
Un gran día = a great day.
There are many
adjectives over whose position you will
hesitate. But don't worry. One Spaniard will not in-
variably put the adjective in the same position as another
ADJECTIVES— THE VERB 'TO BE' 39
might. If in doubt, put the adjective after the noun. You

will be far more often right than wrong.
Spanish has two verbs meaning " to be " ser and
: estar.
Here are the present tenses.
Ser. Estar.
yo soy yo estoy = I am.
(tú eres) (tú estás) = (thou art).
Vd. es Vd. está = you are.
él es él está «= he is.
nosotros somos nosotros estamos = we are.
(vosotros sois) (vosotros estáis) = (you are).
Vds. son Vds. están =* you are.
ellos son ellos están = they are.
These verbs are not interchangeable. Estar is used of
a temporary condition, ser of a permanent one.
Estoy cansado = I am tired (but I shall be better after
a rest).
Soy médico =I am a doctor (a virtually permanent state
or occupation).
Ella es bonita =
she is pretty (good looks don't last for
ever, but they are not purely accidental or temporary).
1 Ser expresses an inherent or essential quality; estar an

accidental or external state or quality.
El alumno es atento =
the student is attentive (by nature).
El alumno está atento =
the student is attentive (for the
moment).
La botella está vacía = the bottle is empty (accidental^.
La botella es de vidrio = the bottle is of glass (inherent).
Ser is used to express the ownership of anything, the

material of which it is made, for trades, professions, hours
—
of the day, origin of a person or thing in short, in most
cases where the action or condition is not temporary by its
very nature. On the other hand, estar derived from the
,
Latin word meaning " to stand is always used to indicate

the position of a person or thing, even when it is permanent.
Ser is used to form the passive. Estar is used with the
present participle to express what anyone is doing at the
time only.
—
4o TEACH YOURSELF SPANISH

Examples of the foregoing :
Este caballo es mío = this horse is mine.

El reloj es de oro = the watch is of gold.
Es panadero = he is a baker.
Note that the indefinite article (un, una) is not used

before a noun used like an adjective to express profession
or some other quality of the subject.
¿ Qué hora es ? = What time is it ?

La criada es de Málaga = is (comes) from
the servant
Malaga.
Está en el palacio =
he is in the palace.
El hombre ha sido muerto =
the man has been killed.
Compra un periódico =
he buys a paper.
Está leyendo un periódico =
he is reading a paper (at this
moment).
Vocabulary
escuela = school. más = more.
pájaro = bird. que = than.
cantar = to sing. lleno — full.
escuchar = to listen (to) viajar— to travel.
pero = but. mucho = much.
tendero = shopkeeper. cocinera = cook.
campo «= field. trabajar = to work.
recibido = received. siempre = always.
visitar = to visit. aquí m
here.
Exercise 5(a)
i. hombre que ha visto Vd. es tendero. 2. La botella
El
azul que he comprado está llena de agua. 3. Mis hermanos
son más ricos que el médico. 4. Nuestra cocinera es
holgazana no trabaja mucho. 5. Las mujeres españolas
:
son siempre habladoras. 6. He recibido hoy una carta de

mi hija está en Barcelona.
:
7. ¿Es casada la pobre
mujer? Es viuda. 8. Los alumnos están en la escuela,
escuchando al docto profesor. 9. Los obreros que tra-
bajan en los campos no son muy aplicados. 10. Las
calles de muchas ciudades españolas son muy estrechas.
11. Escucharé hoy los pequeños pájaros que cantan en los
:
DEMONSTRATIVES AND POSSESSIVES 41
campos. 12. ¿Dónde está la hija del valiente general X?

13. Está en Inglaterra con su madre que quiere siempre
viajar. 14. El tendero no tiene relojes baratos, son todos
de oro. 15. La hija de mi buen amigo Carlos es muy
bonita. 16. Un gran general francés ha llegado aquí para
visitar al rey. 17. ¿No quiere Vd. visitar el palacio de
los reyes españoles ? 18. Mi tío es labrador. No es rico,
pero es siempre feliz. 19. Los obreros no son corteses, pero
son muy hábiles. 20. El célebre palacio que buscan Vds.
está en la calle del Rey.
Exercise 5(b)
The streets of the city are
1. long. 2. To-day I have
worked much, but lam not tired. The workman's white
3.
horse is small. 4. I have not seen your brother. Where
is he? 5. He
England with his great friend.
is in He
travels a lot (much), when he has enough money. 6. The
birds which sing in the fields are very beautiful. 7. My
uncle a learned man, but he is lazy. 8. Our cook is not
is
here she is in the church which you have visited to-day.
:
9. White wine is better than black coffee. 10. Her

daughter is not married. 11. The men who are in the fields
are always happy. 12. The church is small but very
beautiful. 13. The bottles which you have bought are full
of water. 14. I am
listening to the birds their voices
:
are very tuneful. 15. Where is the farmer's pretty

daughter? 16. Good books are cheap here. 17. German
soldiers are in the city. 18. French workmen are very
industrious. 19. We are doctors; my brother is from
Madrid, but I come from Bilbao. 20. The beautiful English
woman does not speak Spanish, but she has learned French.
LESSON VI
DEMONSTRATIVES AND POSSESSIVES
In English, this (these) and that (those) are used to
indicate to which of two or more persons or things we
refer. The Spanish have three words for this purpose
este, ese and aquel. The last two each mean " that ", but
with this distinction : ese denotes something near to or
—

associated with the person addressed, whilst aquel refers to
something remote both from the speaker and the person
spoken to.
The forms of the three are as follows :
Masc. Fern. Neut. Meaning.

este esta esto this
Sing, ese esa eso that (near you)
aquel aquella aquello that (yonder)
estos estas — these
Plur. esos esas — those (near you)
aquellos aquellas — those (yonder)
Look at these examples of their use :
Este libro que he leído =

this book which I have read.
Ese libro que Vd. tiene =
that book which you have.
Aquel libro que mi primo tiene =
that book which my
cousin has.
Esta mañana =
this morning.
En aquellos días (lugares) =
in those days (places).
The neuter forms esto, eso and aquello never refer to

definite nouns, but to an idea, a whole phrase or a state-
ment.
¿ Ha oído Vd. eso ? = did you hear that ? (i.e., what was
said, for instance).
Esto no es posible = this is not possible.
There is a further use of demonstratives. We do not

tay " This hat and, that hat", but "This hat and that
(one) ". When a Spanish demonstrative is used in this
way, to avoid the repetition of a noun, it takes the written
accent to distinguish it.
This -book and that one (yonder) =

este libro y aquél.
Do you want those books (over there) or those (nearer) ?
=
¿quiere Vd. aquellos libros ó ésos ?
In English we talk about the former and the latter to

distinguish between two. In Spanish the former aquél, =
the latter =
éste. This is not what one would expect.
The Spanish argument is that, on encountering " the
latter on a page, you cast your eye back, and the latter
'
of two things referred to will meet your eye, as you look

back, before the former of the pair. In other words, " the
latter " is the nearer. So the Spanish call the latter éste
and the former aquél. The French reason in the same way.
In English we often use " the one " or " the ones
Frequently " that " or " those could be replaced by " the
99
one(s) We are not making a distinction between two

contrasted things, but merely drawing attention. For
instance, the proverb " People (those) who live in glass
:
houses shouldn't throw stones is a case in point. For

this use of the pronoun the Spanish el is employed. In
fact, the various forms of the definite article are borrowed
and do duty (with the meanings of that, those, the one,
the ones, etc.) instead of the other demonstratives, to avoid
the repetition of a noun already referred to or understood
by implication.
My house and the one you are buying = mi casa y la
que Vd. compra.
The black ink and the blue (one) =
la tinta negra y la azul.
The roof of my house and that of the one you are buying
«a el tejado de mi casa y el de la que Vd. compra.
In the above example, you see, the same usage occurs

twice, el referring to the roof, and la to the house.
In contrasting, of course, the ordinary demonstrative is
used.
My house and that (yonder) m mi casa y aquélla.
That brings us to another point. We should translate
u my house and yours " as " my house and the one of
you and say mi casa y la de Vd. But how should we
:
say " Your house and mine " ?

We know that my house is mi casa. But now we want
the possessive " mine " used, to avoid the repetition of a
noun. This is mío. And there are others. Just as we
avoid tú and vosotros, so, as foreigners not on intimate
terms with Spaniards, we shall avoid tuyo (thine) and
vuestro (yours). There remain suyo (suya), his, her, its,
yours and theirs; nuestro (nuestra), ours; and, of course,
—
mío (mía), mine all of which form their plurals by the
addition of an s. We are now in a position to translate
u
your house and mine ". It will be su casa (or, better,
:
la casa de Vd.) y la mía. Similarly, " my horses and
M
theirs «= mis caballos y los suyos, but suyo has various
meanings. Therefore, here again we use el with its meaning,
already noted, of " the one ', and write mis caballos y:
los de ellos. In most cases, in fact, it is preferable, for the

sake of clearness, to avoid suyo and put the appropriate
personal pronoun with de in front of it.
Sometimes mío, etc., is used without the article. For
instance, " the house is mine " =»= la casa es mía (and not
la mía). We can make a simple rule out of this. When
the possessive has before it some part of the verb set, used
with the idea of ownership, the article must be left out.
"This car is ours" =
este auto(móvil) es nuestro. "The
money is mine " = dinero es mío.
el For " the money is
his " we should say el dinero es de él (avoiding suyo).
:
There are two other instances when mío is used.

Firstly, in emphasis or contrast. " He is my friend M
might be es mi amigo. But, stressing the word to imply
:
that the person is my friend, not someone else's, you

would use mío, putting it after the noun, and say es :
amigo mío. Secondly, such phrases as " of mine " of

his , etc., are generally translated without the " of " being
rendered. For instance, " a friend of mine (his) " would
be :un amigo mío {suyo). Even " one of his friends " is
better translated by un amigo suyo than by uno de sus
: :
amigos. One last word. Remember that the article is

omitted with ser, but not with estar. " This handkerchief
is mine
" =
este pañuelo es mío. " Here is my handker-
chief. Where is yours? " =
A qui está mi pañuelo.
¿ Dónde está el suyo (or, el de Vd.) ?
Vocabulary
sobre = on. vecino(a) mm neighbour.
cama = bed. todo =all, every.
pariente = relation. dado = given.
cuadra = stable. o = or.
no = no, not. si yes.
Exercise 6(a)
Las manzanas que están sobre la mesa son mías. 2.
i.
Este libro es mío, aquél es de mi hermano. 3. Estos
lápices son mejores que los de Vd. a. Hay muchos libro

en mi habitación : losque he comprado esta mañana están
sobre la cama. 5. ¿Quiere Vd. este periódico o aquél?
6. Un pariente mío está en Madrid. 7. ¿Ha visto Vd. a
Carlos ? Dos amigos suyos llegarán hoy de Barcelona. 8.
Ese auto no es mío, es de Juan. 9. Aquel tendero es más
rico que éste. 10. ¿Dónde está mi caballo? El nuestro
está aquí, el de Vd. está en la cuadra. 11. Hoy estamos
muy contentos dos primos nuestros han llegado aquí de
:
Inglaterra. 12. ¿Es mía esta botella? No, es de ella.

13. Mi padre y el suyo han trabajado todo el día en los
campos. 14. Mi casa y la de nuestros vecinos son pequeñas.
15. ;Ha perdido Vd. su pañuelo? No, éste es mío. 16.
Aquí hay dos relojes éste es mío, ése es de Vd. 17. He
:
dado el dinero a Luis y a un amigo suyo. 18. Mi perro y

el de ella están en la calle. 19. ¿Es este auto nuestro o
de Vds. ? 20. Su caballo de Vd. y el de su criado están
en la cuadra.
Exercise 6(b)
These apples are mine, those are yours. 2. Her voice
1.
is more tuneful than her sister's (the one of her sister). 3.
A neighbour of ours has a white house with a blue roof.
4. I have read my letters, I have not read yours. 5. The
fold watch (which) you have found is mine. 6. The money
have spent is John's. 7. Charles will arrive here witn
two friends of his. 8. The servant (fern.) has lost my
handkerchiefs but not yours. 9. I have not enough money
to buy this car that one is cheaper (more cheap).
: 10.
Is this newspaper yours? (turn to yours this newspaper).
:
11. Have you seen the farmer and his son? They are
friends of ours. 12. These apples are better than the ones
(which) I (have) bought this morning. 13. Two relations
of his have bought that house (yonder). 14. Our cook
and our neighbour's do not wish to work this morning.
15. My hat and yours are on the table. 16. This is not
my book, it is hers. 17. We have seen our mother but
not hers. 18. One of my neighbours has sold his house :
he wants to buy mine. 19. He does not wish to buy

books the ones he has are good. 20. Is yours the horse
:
which is in the stable ?

LESSON VII
INTERROGATE VES — REGULAR VERBS

So we can ask a question in Spanish only by
far reversing
the subject and verb. ¿ Tiene Vd. su sombrero = have ?
you (got) your hat ? ¿ Ha olvidado Vd. la palabra ? = have
you forgotten the word? Remember that the pronoun
comes after the past participle " forgotten Sometimes
we must be ready to allow another word to intervene
between the verb and the subject. For instance, for " Is
your friend a shopkeeper? " we shall not write ¿es el :
amigo suyo tendero ? but ¿ es tendero el amigo suyo ? This

:
is because we cannot logically separate the two. We are

not concerned merely with whether the person is, but with
whether he is a shopkeeper, so the two words must stay
together whilethe subject beats a retreat to the end.
Many
questions, however, are introduced in English by
such words as who?, which? or what?, and it is now our
business to cope with their Spanish equivalents. The
commonest translation of what ? is ¿ qué ? Thus What :
do you want ? «
¿ qué quiere Vd. ? What is that ? =« ¿ qué
es éso? What dog? ¿qué perro? It is also used in
exclamations, meaning " What a
:
" but the a is not
translated. / Qué perro !
=
what a dog What a pity
! I
=
¡ qué lástima I If an adjective goes with a noun in such
expressions, the word tan (so) is usually put in for emphasis.
What an ugly picture ! =
/ qué cuadro tan feo ! We can
also use qué with a preposition before it. Of what are you
talking? (what are you talking about?) =
¿de qué habla
Vd. ? or, if the action is going on at that very moment,
¿ de qué está Vd. hablando ?
Cuál (pl. cuáles) is used of persons or things and means
which (one(s)). It is seldom used just before a noun, so
which car? implying one of several would be ¿cuál de los
autos? But what general is that? =
¿qué general es ese?
because identity, not selection, is involved. Cuál, meaning
What ? is used with reference to things before a tense of ser.
What is the date of his arrival ? =
Cuál es la fecha de su
llegada ?
—— ?
INTERROGATE VES — REGULAR VERBS 47
Who? or Whom? are translated by quién (sing.) and

quiénes (plural) Any preposition may be used before them.
.
¿ Quién es Vd. ? —
who are you ? ¿ Con quiénes habla Vd. ?
= with whom do you speak ? ¿ Aquien ha visto Vd. ? =
whom have you seen ? [Note : the preposition a used
when the object of the verb is a person). Whose? is best
translated by : ¿de quién {quiénes) ? Whose house is this
= ¿de quién es esta casa? (lit. of whom is this house?).
There is a word cuyo meaning " whose? but, though
common, as we shall see later, as a relative pronoun, it is
rarely used as an interrogative, and de quien(es) is much
safer to use.
We have already met the relative pronoun que (who,
that, etc.). It will be found later that relatives are mostly
identical in form with interrogatives, save that they do
not have the accent mark. This applies also to the words
" why " and " because Why =
¿por qué? (compare
the French pourquoi?), and because =
porque. Another
useful interrogative is ¿ Cuánto (a) ? =
how much? The
plural is ¿ cuántos (cuántas) ? =
how many ? ¿ Cuánto
dinero ? =
how much money. ¿ Cuántas vacas ? how =
many cows ?
The majority
of Spanish verbs end in ar in the infinitive.
We have dealt already with such verbs as hablar, whose
present tense may be formed by adding to the stem habl-
the terminations -o, -as, -a, -amos, -áis, -an.
There are two other classes of Spanish verbs those :
whose infinitives end in er or ir. Typical of these are

comer = to eat, and vivir —
to live, with stems com- and
viv- respectively. Here are their present tenses :
yo como (I eat). yo vivo (I live).

(tú comes). (tú vives).
Vd., él, ella come. Vd., él, ella vive.
nosotros comemos. nosotros vivimos.
(vosotros coméis). (vosotros vivís).
Vds., ellas, ellos comen. Vds., ellos, ellas, viven.
With the exception of some 300 irregular verbs ser and

estar are —
examples all Spanish verbs are conjugated like
one of these model verbs hablar, comer or vivir, according
to whether their infinitive ends in ar, er or ir.
— — t
4» TEACH YOURSELF SPANISH

In English we turn " he speaks " into a question by
saying u Does he speak ? "
: In Spanish you write the
equivalent of "speaks he?" =
¿habla él? In other
words, do, does, did, etc., are not translated. This applies
to negatives also. He does not speak =
¿l no habla (lit.
he speaks not).
We have seen that when the object of a verb is a person,
not a thing, the preposition a is inserted before this object.
You will find, incidentally, that an intelligent animal, such
as a horse or a dog, is sometimes regarded, for the purposes
of this rule, as a person. Two important verbs, however,
are exceptions. They are tener ana querer.
u I have a sister " is tengo una hermana {tengo a mi hermana
would mean " I hold my sister ").
Similarly querer means to want, querer a means to love.
So that querer una cocinera and querer a una cocinera are
not the same thing. Far from it But these two verbs
!
are the only exceptions to the rule that a must be put

before the object when it is a person.
In English the present tense of " to speak " means I
speak, I do speak, I am speaking. In Spanish it is the
same. But, I am speaking, as has already been touched
upon, should be expressed by estoy hablando, if the action
is unfinished and actually continuing at the moment.
Since the action is purely temporary, estar, and never
ser, is employed in this connection.
Hablando is equivalent to the English " speaking
This is the present participle (gerund). There is also the
past participle " spoken ". The present and past parti-
ciples of ar verbs are formed by adding -ando and -ado
respectively to the stem :
viajar (to travel) ;

viaj-ando (travelling) ;
viajado (trav-
elled).
Of er and ir verbs by adding -iendo, and -ido to the

stem :
beber (to drink) bebiendo (drinking)

; bebido (drunk).
; Hio see
recibir (to receive); recibiendo (receiving); recibido bird -Tí I
is
(received). (jto^
visto (seen) and escrito (written) are irregular.
INTERROGATE VES — REGULAR VERBS 49
Vocabulary
ver = to see. acabar =
to finish.
dicho = said. asunto =
matter, affair.
salir = to start, depart, leave, siempre =
always.
comprender = to understand. ahora =
now.
posada = inn. oficial = officer.
abogado = lawyer. allí = there.
Exercise 7(a)
i. Cuál de mis libros ha leído Vd. ? El que está sobre la
¿
mesa en su habitación. 2. ¿ Qué ha dicho Vd. al abogado ?
3. ¿Cuántas calles hay en esta ciudad? 4. ¿Cuál es
el número de la habitación de Vd. ? 5. ¿Cuáles de los
lápices son míos ? ¿ Estos ó aquéllos ? 6. Hemos perdido
el tren. ¡
Qué lástima 7.
! Qué muchacha tan bonita
¡
!
¿ Quién es (ella) ? 8. Es la hija de un amigo mío. 9. ¿ Por

qué no ha acabado Vd. su trabajo ? 10. ¿De qué está Vd.
hablando? De asuntos que Vd. no comprende. 11. ¿De
quién son las vacas que están en aquel campo? Son de
Óarlos. 12. ¿ De dónde es Vd. ? Soy madrileño (adjective
of Madrid), pero vivo ahora en Burgos. 13. ¿Quién vive
en la casa del primo de Vd. ? (de su primo) .Mi tío vive
allí, pero mi tía está en Inglaterra. 14. Este oficial francés
bebe siempre vino blanco. 15. ¿Cuánto dinero tiene Vd.
en su bolsillo? 16. ¿A quién está Vd. escribiendo? Al
hijo del médico. 17. Los que están bebiendo en la posada
no son amigos míos. 18. El tren ha salido de la estación.
19. Quiero ver al rey. ¿ Dónde está su palacio ? 20. Este
soldado quiere mucho a la cocinera, pero es casada.
Exercise 7(b)
1. To which did you speak this morning? To
officer
that one (yonder). 2. Which of these cars is yours? This
one. 3. Whose are those horses ? They are not mine. 4.
Which of his sons have you seen? 5. Why are you not
working? I do not work because I am tired. 6. I want
to see the lawyer. Where is he ? He is not here. 7. The
bird is singing in the garden. What a tuneful voice 8. !
To what man do you wish to speak ? 9. Which cow have

you bought? The white (one). 10. I have given five
¡
50 TEACH YOURSELF SPANISH COH
pesetas to that farmer who is drinking in the inn with his mine
son. 11. We are natives of Madrid, but we live in

Santander. 12. She is writing to her cousin. 13. What a In
man He has drunk five bottles of wine. 14. I have two

!
sisters and a brother. 15. How many churches are there

in this city ? 16. She has two sons. The one who writes
to your friend is a doctor. 17. Where is the general?
He is working in his garden. 18. There are many trains
which leave this station. 19. Those men (yonder) do not Th(
live here. They come from Valencia. 20. How many

workmen did you see in the fields ? J$|der
to em
lb I
LESSON VIII
"II
COMPARISON OF ADJ ECTIVES — FUTU RE OF VERBS

Itfrequently happens that we want to compare one M01
thing or person with another to establish their relative

merits or qualities. In so doing we use what is called the Toe
comparative of an adjective. In English if an adjective leenir
ends in a consonant we add er to it to make it comparative :

\ "thee
e.g., long —
longer. If it ends in an e we merely add r : I In the
e.g., ripe —
riper. One or two adjectives, such as " good 99 -} which
and "bad", change their form altogether and become -J puti

" better 99 and " worse " respectively. With adjectives of
Ido
a fair length we put " more or " less " in front of them
and make no change in the word itself e.g., more import-
:
ant, less difficult. r conies t
In Spanish this last isthe method generally employed,

and we have already encountered it casually during previous
exercises. The Spanish for " more " =
más, for " less " m&
menos. (The word mas without the accent sign means
" but To avoid confusion, however, it is preferable to
use pero.) In using a comparative we generally require
the word " than which, as we already know, is que.
Perhaps it would be as well to recall that, whereas English
adjectives are invariable in form, Spanish adjectives must
agree in gender and number with the noun to which they
refer, whether they are separated from it by a verb or not.
For instance, Our house is older than yours =
nuestra casa
es más vieja que la de Vd. Is your sister bigger than1 jr
— —
COMPARISON OF ADJECTIVES—FUTURE OF VERBS 51
mine ? = ¿ es más grande su hermana que la mía ? {note the

Spanish order).
There are one or two irregular comparisons in Spanish :
bueno, good mejor better.

; ,
malo, bad peor, worse.

;
grande, great mayor, greater.

;
pequeño, small menor, smaller.

;
The two, however, can be compared regularly [más

last
grande, más pequeño), the irregular forms generally meaning
older and younger, respectively, or occasionally referring
to eminence rather than size. El hermano mayor the =
elder brother. La calle mayor the main street. =
94
Than 99 in comparisons is normally que. But " than "
before a number is de (as in French). Thus :
More than I = Más que yo. More than ten = más de

diez.
To digress, but with a purpose, for a moment. We have

seen in dealing with the demonstratives that " he who
44
the one who etc., are translated by el que and los que.
In the same way, " what when it really means " that
which referring to a whole clause rather than to some
definite noun, is rendered by lo que (the French ce*qui).
I do not listen to what he says = no escucho lo que dice.

" "
This same usage is turned to account when than
comes before a verb, de being put before it.
This boy iscleverer than (what) he says = este muchacho
es más hábil de (not que) lo que dice.
But, of course, if we have " the one(s) " referring to

some definite noun, then the ordinary el que (los que) may
be used.
These apples are better than the ones you have bought
=
estas manzanas son mejores que las que Vd. ha com-
prado.
The Future of Verbs

In an early lesson it was pointed out that the future of
tomar (to take) was tomaré (I shall take). This tense can
be formed by adding the endings -i ds, d, -emos, -iis, -dn
t
to the infinitive. It was also mentioned that all Spanish

verbs have these same endings in the Future Tense. We
already know the Present Tonse of comer (to eat) and vivir
(to live). By adding the above endings to their infinitives
we shall get the Future without any difficulty.
comer-é -ás -á -etnos -¿is -án » I shall eat, etc.
vivir-é -ás -á -emos -éis -án I shall live, etc.
The other verbs we have encountered so far are tener,

and haber. These are irregular verbs in certain
ser, estar
tenses, but, even so, they have the normal future endings.
Tendr-é -ás -á -emos -éis -án =* I shall have, etc.
Ser-é -ás -á -emos -éis -an =I shall be, etc.
Estar-é -ás -á -emos -éis -an =I shall be, etc.
Habr-é -ás -á -emos -éis -án =I shall have, etc.
Vocabulary
frío =* cold. caliente= warm, hot.
fuerte =
strong. cerveza = beer.
otro =
other, another. dependiente = clerk.
quedar =
to remain. también = also.
mañana (adv.) =
to-morrow, mañana (noun) = morning.
vender =
to sell. si (no accent) = if.
Vd(s). dice(n) = you say. oficina = office.

Exercise 8(a)
i. más fuertes que Vd. 2. ¿No es
Estos hombres son
más vieja esta mujer que aquélla? 3. Esta cerveza es
buena, es mejor que el vino blanco de Vd. 4. Hemos
recibido menos de cinco pesetas. 5. Gasta más dinero de
lo que dice. 6. ¿ Es más barato el auto de Vd. que el
nuestro? 7. Venderemos nuestra casa, es muy pequeña.
8. Estos obreros son más holgazanes que los que trabajan
en el jardín de Vd. 9. Mi hermano está en Madrid.
Mañana yo estaré allí también. 10. Si Vd. 1 vende esos
libros, tendrá (Vd.) bastante dinero para comprar los que
1
Although in theory Vd., being really a noun, cannot be left out,
in practice it is omitted after being used once, if the meaning is
quite clear.
:
COMPARISON OF ADJECTIVES— FUTURE OF VERBS 53
(Vd.) quiere.11. Mi amigo quedará aquí más de ocho

días. Uno de mis dependientes está en mi oficina
12.
no he visto esta mañana a los otros. 13. Tenemos en esta
ciudad iglesias más grandes que las de Madrid. 14. Aquel
abogado es más rico que el médico. Su casa tiene más de
doce habitaciones. 15. Mañana estaré muy cansado, por
aue trabajaré todo el día en los campos'. 16. El general
dice que sus soldados no quedarán aquí más de dos días.
17. Estas manzanas no son buenas, son peores que las de
Vd. 18. ¿Cuándo escribirá Vd. a su primo? 19. Los
ricos no son siempre más felices que los pobres. 20. Mis
vecinos son menos ricos de lo que dicen.
Exercise 8(b)
1. Your daughter prettier than that girl.
is 2. Is not
her house larger than ours? 3. Are not these clerks more
idle than the ones who work in your cousin's office? 4.
Those shopkeepers are richer than they say. 5. To-morrow
we shall be in JBilbao with a relation of ours. 6. Will you
not remain here more than three days ? 7. The streets of
this city are narrower than those of Madrid. 8. Have you
lost your handkerchief? Yes, but I have another in my
pocket. 9. He writes longer letters than I. (Remember
that if an adjective is one that normally follows its noun,
it will also do so in the comparative degree.) 10. The
horses in my stable are better than the ones in his. 11.
Charles is bigger than his younger brother. 12. Her house
is in the main street, but it is smaller than ours. 13. When
will the train leave (saldrá) the station? 14. The people
who (those who) live here are relations of mine. 15. These
officers are less brave than the general says. 16. I will
look for your aunt. Will she not be in the garden? 17.
This Englishwoman has more money than she spends. 18.
We shall receive to-morrow the letter which he has written
to-day. 19. Isn't that girl (yonder) more hardworking
than your cook? 20. We shall miss this train, but there
are many others 1
which leave this station for (para)
Valencia.
1 Others many.
— — — —
LESSON IX
SUPERLATIVES-IMPERFECT TENSE
Many English superlatives are formed by putting u the
most " before the adjective e.g., " the most important
:
Short or common
adjectives form their superlative by
adding st or est e.g., largest, longest. One or two, such
:
M
as " best and 11 worst ", make a change in the body of the
word itself.
In Spanish the method is to put the definite article
before the comparative form the biggest el más grande,
: =
the best (worst) =
el mejor {peor). Both article and adjec-
tive, of course, agree in gender and number with the noun
to which they refer :
These workmen are the most skilful =* estos obreros son

los más hábiles.
If the adjective is one that follows the noun, the definite

article remains in front :
The narrowest streets = las calles más estrechas.
In theory this might mean " the narrower streets", but

in practice there is seldom any doubt of the meaning. The
M
English word " in " must be turned into " of following
a superlative for purposes of translation :
The largest city in the world =» la ciudad más grande del

mundo.
In Spanish (as in French) a possessive pronoun placed
before the comparative of an adjective also has the effect
of making it superlative. In this case, naturally, the
definite article is not used as well :
Este libro es su mejor obra this book is his best work.

Aft hermano mayor =
my eldest (possibly, elder) brother.
Often the word " most " is used with no idea of com-
paring some person or thing with another, but merely with
the meaning of " very " or " extremely " e.g., it is most :
— —
SUPERLATIVES— IMPERFECT TENSE 55
(very, extremely) important. The Spanish for very is muy,

so we can say es muy importante.
: Actually, a more vivid
way of conveying the idea is to add Isimo {-ma, -mos, -mas)
to the adjective, first dropping the final vowel of the
adjective if it ends in one :
This city is very beautiful = esta ciudad es muy hermosa ;

but, more colourfully : esta ciudad es hermosísima.
Still, muy form is never grammatically wrong, and

the
you perhaps find it safer to stick to it.
will
By the way, remember that though an adjective may
ordinarily come before the noun, if used with muy it must
—
follow it e.g., es un buen hombre, but es un hombre muy
bueno.
Note, in passing, that bueno and malo, used with estar
(not ser), refer to health, not goodness :
Estoy bueno = I am well.

In the last lessonwe were making unequal comparisons.
But there a comparison of equality when, for
is also
instance, something is not better or worse than another,
but as good as it. This will involve the use of the ex-
pressions " as as " e.g., my car is as good as yours.
:
The first " as " in Spanish is tan, the second como. These
words are invariable, and are used with adjectives and
adverbs. We should therefore write mi auto es tan bueno :
como el de Vd. If the sentence were negative, the first

" as " would probably be changed into " so But in
Spanish there is no change.
These children are not as (so) intelligent as those =
estos niños no son tan inteligentes como aquéllos.
In sentences of this kind we shall also want to be able

to say " as much
: as or " so much as In
such sentences " as much " will be followed by a noun.
Tan can only be used with adjectives or adverbs, so here
we want tanto como.
In dealing with interrogatives we have already met
¿cuánto ? how much ? The plural means " how many ? "
=
In the same way tantos (tantas) means "as (so) many",
— —

and agrees in gender and number with the noun. Some-
times it will agree with a noun previously mentioned, but
not actually repeated :
We have as many cows as you — tenemos tantas vacas

como Vd.
How much beer have you? I haven't as much as you
= ¿ Cuánta cerveza tiene Vd. ? No tengo tanta como
Vd.
The Imperfect of Regular Verbs

The imperfectindicative of ar verbs is formed by adding
to the stem the following endings -aba, -abas, -aba,
:
-dbamos, -abáis, -aban. In the case of both er and if verbs

it is formed by adding to the stem -la, -ias, -ia, -iamos,
-iais, -ian. Thus :
hablaba comía vivía

(hablabas) (comías) (vivías)
hablaba comía vivía
hablábamos comíamos vivíamos
(hablabais) (comíais) (vivíais)
hablaban comían vivían
The imperfect tenses of tener, haber and estar are all

regular : tenía, había, estaba, etc. Ser has the following
forms era, (eras), era, ¿ramos, (erais), eran.
: Almost all
other Spanish verbs, even when irregular in other tenses,
form their imperfect on the regular model.
The present tense of hablar, a common verb, means I
speak, I do speak, or I am speaking;. For the last meaning
estoy hablando may be substituted for hablo, when the point
is emphasised that the action is actually proceeding at the
moment in question.
The imperfect hablaba means I spoke, I used to speak,
or I was speaking. Here again estaba hablando may be
used when the action was in progress at the moment in
question. But this use is limited, and the student will
not find himself using it frequently. For instance " I :
was speaking to my cousin the other day " would probably

be hablaba el otro día con mi primo. The imperfect is
:
the U*nse of habitual or repeated action in the past. For

SUPERLATIVES — IMPERFECT TENSE 57
example he always missed the train «= perdía siempre el

:
tren. It was habitual with him. The tense is likewise

used for general descriptions of the countryside or of
people. Look at this extract from the first page of Don
Quijote (Don Quixote).
Tenía en su casa una ama que pasaba de los cuarenta, y
un mozo de campo, que así ensillaba el rocín como tomaba la
podadera. Frisaba la edad de nuestro hidalgo con los cin-
cuenta años : era de complexión recia, seco de carnes y amigo
de la caza. (He had in his house a housekeeper a little
over forty, and a farm lad who both saddled the nag and
handled the pruning hook. The age of our gentleman was
close upon fifty he was of a robust constitution, lean of
:
flesh and a keen sportsman.)

The imperfect, then, is not the tense of single complete
actions in the past, but of description and habitual or
"
repeated action. There is no doubt that " was speaking
or " used to speak " involves the use of the imperfect.
Very often " he spoke " means " he used to speak and
then the imperfect tense must be used. In using the
imperfect, since the first and the third persons singular are
alike, it may be necessary for the sake of clearness not to
omit the pronoun.
For instance no sabía que vivía aquí might mean either
:
" I did not know that he (you) lived here or " you (he)
,
did not know that I lived here So, while observing the
general custom of omitting pronouns when possible, we
must be careful about doing so with the imperfect tense.
Vocabulary
joven = young. habitante = inhabitant.
delicioso = delicious, delightful, a menudo = often.
tiempo = time. jamas = ever.
autor = author. todos los días = every
naranja = orange. feo = ugly. [day.
aldea = village. soberbio = proud.
Exercise 9(a)
1. Barcelona es una de las ciudades más grandes de
España, pero no es tan grande como Londres. 2. Estas
naranjas no son tan buenas como las que yo compraba
cuando vivía en Sevilla. 3. ¿No tenía Vd. un auto muy
excelente? 4. Yo viajaba mucho cuando era joven. 5.
Mi mejor amigo es uno de los autores más célebres del
mundo. 6. Cuando estábamos en Inglaterra escribíamos
muchas cartas. 7. No tenemos tantos parientes como Vd.
8. Esta mujer, que es ahora tan fea, era en aquellos días
la muchacha más hermosa de la aldea. 9. Cuando vivíamos
en Aran juez mi padre tomaba el tren para Madrid todos
los días. 10. En aquellos días la ciudad tenía muchos
habitantes. 11. La habitación en donde estábamos era de
mi hermano. 12. ¿ No son tan importantes estos asuntos
como los de que Vd. hablaba ? 13. Cuando yo aprendía
español olvidaba a menudo las palabras más ordinarias.
14. Éste es el vino más delicioso que he bebido jamás.
15. Ella no es tan aplicada como su hermana menor. 16.
Él bebía mucha cerveza, pero no comía tanto pan como
yo. 17. Yo hablaba todos los días con el médico era un
:
hombre muy inteligente. 18. Cuando éramos jóvenes no

teníamos bastante dinero para viajar. 19. No he leído las
mejores obras de los grandes autores rusos. 20. ¿Cuántos
libros tiene Vd. ? No tengo tantos como él.
Exercise 9(b)
1. Whythat girl so haughty?
is Because her father
used to be one of the richest men in the city. 2. Which
train used you to take? 3. Did you see that woman?
She used to be very handsome. 4. Her husband came
from Málaga he had a house in the main square. 5.
:
How many bottles of wine used he to drink every day?

More than six. 6. When we lived in Seville we used to
have a car. 7. These clerks are not as idle as yours. 8.
I have seen the lawyer to-day : he was in your cousin's
office. 9. Our cook used not to be as talkative as hers.
10. This is the finest house I have ever seen. n. This
servant (girl) was not as hardworking as the other. 12.
My friend's elder brother was very rich, but he has lost all
his money. 13. I was looking this morning for my brother. J
14. Where was he? He was writing letters. 15. This is

the longest street in the city. 16. He used to be the most
skilful of my workmen. 17. He was a shopkeeper when
he lived in London. 18. Every day I used not to receive
—
PAST DEFINITE TENSE— COMMON PREPOSITIONS 59
less than ten pesetas. 19. The richest man in the village
was (the) son of a poor farmer. 20. In those days he had
less money than he spent.
LESSON X
THE PAST DEFINITE TENSE— COMMON PREPOSITIONS
The last lesson showed that such an expression as "he
spent money " would be translated by él gastaba dinero, if
the meaning is that he used to spend money or constantly
did so. But what if the spending only took place once?
Here clearly the imperfect, the tense of habitual or repeated
action, cannot be used. We need another. It is generally
called the Past Definite (occasionally the Preterite), and
can be formed, as shown below, by the addition of certain
endings to the stem.
Past Definite Tense

habl-é vend-í viv-í
(habl-aste) (vend-iste) (viv-iste)
habl-ó vend-ió viv-ió
habl-amos vend-imos viv-imos
(habl-asteis) (vend-isteis) (viv-isteis)
habl-aron vend-ieron viv-ieron
It will be noticed that the Past Definite of er and ir verbs
are alike throughout, as in the case of their imperfect tense.
Also that the first person plural of verbs in -ar and -ir is the
same as the corresponding person in the present indicative.
Tener, haber, estar and ser are irregular verbs and make
an alteration to their stems, which become tuv-, hub-, estuv-
and fu- respectively.
Their past definite is as follows :
tuv-e hub-e estuv-e fu-i

(tuv-iste) (hub-iste) (estuv-iste) (fu-iste)
tuv-o hub-o estuv-o fu-é
tuv-imos hub-imos estuv-imos fu-imos
(tuv-isteis) (hub-isteis) (estuv-isteis f u-isteis
tuv-ieron hub-ieron estuv-ieron fu-eron
For future reference it may be helpful to point
out that
when the actual stem of the verb is irregular, the singular
terminations (except in the familiar second person) are
nearly always those of at verbs, the plural those of er or
it verbs.
The first persons of the past definite of these seven verbs
shown mean respectively I spoke, I sold, I lived, I had,
:
I was.
1
But their imperfects may also have these same
-
meanings. How, then, are we to know which tense to

use ? By way of arriving at a solution, consider this short
extract from a Spanish novel. The verbs in the past
definite are italicised to distinguish them from those in
the imperfect.
Sobre la llanura del mar, el cielo aparecía estriado de
nubes matizadas de violeta y rosa. A las diez de la
mañana el sol rompió su envoltura, disipáronse las nubes,
y comenzó a ventar fresco. A partir de esta hora, fui
aumentando por momentos la fuerza del vendaval. Comenzó
a sentirse en el pueblo la agitación del miedo. Las mujeres
dejaban las ocupaciones de la casa y salían a las puertas
y se miraban asustadas.
(Over the flat expanse of the sea, the sky appeared
streaked with clouds blended of violet and pink. At ten
o'clock the sun broke through its veil, the clouds were
scattered and a fresh wind sprang up. From that moment
the violence of the sea wind went on increasing. In the
town confused alarm began to make itself felt. The women
were soon leaving their work about the house and standing
at the doors looking at one another in alarm.)
Obviously all expressions involving " used to or " was-
1
ing ", together with expressions that can be turned without

loss of sense into "used to" or " was-ing ", will be in
the imperfect. Those do not worry us. It is that over-
lapping of " I spoke for instance, which might be either
imperfect or past definite, from the look of it, that is the
difficulty. But from the passage above we see that the
first two lines or so are descriptive, and the imperfect is
used. Then something happens —once. u

The sun broke
through." That is a single complete action in the past.
1 if (to go) and therefore means
Fui, etc., is also the past definite of
either / was or / went.
It is not descriptive. It carries the narrative forward.

It is, as it were, an answer to the question what happened
:
then ?
So when a past tense is not merely descriptive of a scene

or a person, when it shows a complete single action, wholly
over, the past definite, not the imperfect, must be used.
1
For such sentences, therefore, as he killed the dog
" Napoleon died in 1821 or " he missed the train " the
past definite is required.
" Napoleon was a great man " is descriptive, and the
"
imperfect would be used. " Napoleon marched to Moscow
is a single action, and the past definite must be employed.
If one action is proceeding when another breaks in on
it, the first is in the imperfect, the second in the past
definite. E.g., while I was writing, he came into the room

= mientras yo escribía, entró en el cuarto.
One more point in this connection. " I spoke " might
be expressed also in the perfect tense. The past definite
is used if the action is regarded as wholly over. But if
the period in which it was performed is not yet finished,
then the perfect should be used. " I have spoken " would,
of course, be he hablado, but " I spoke this morning
*'
would also be he hablado esta mañana, because to-day is

not yet over. Remember that a past participle cannot
be u§ed as a finite verb without some part of haber. " I
seen " or " I spoken " is meaningless in English, so that
if you decide to translate " I spoke " by the perfect, the
auxiliary he must be inserted before the past participle.

To sum up. " I have spoken " is he hablado. So is " I
M
spoke if the period is not yet over. I spoke " will be
yo hablaba when referring to repeated or habitual actions,
or to descriptions which do not help the narrative forward.
Single complete actions in the past require the past definite.
Rompía siempre las ventanas = he always broke the

windows (habit).
Rompió las ventanas = he broke the windows (single past
action).
Ha roto hoy las ventanas = he broke the windows to-day
(period not yet wholly over).
The interrogative of " I spoke " is " did I speak? the

negative "he didn't speak". When the word "did"
occurs, therefore, we shall also have to consider carefully
which of the three tenses to use.
Common Prepositions
We know that a means " to " and that en means " in ".
But a implies motion and en rest, so that " to arrive in
Madrid " is llegar a (not en) Madrid. En, besides meaning
" in/' may sometimes mean " on," particularly in such
"
expressions as " to be sitting (seated) on a chair (bench)
=— estar sentado en una silla {un banco). In other cases
" on " is generally sobre, which also means " concerning
or " about ". Hasta means " until " (of time], and " up
to "as far as " (of place). Hacia means towards ,
4
'
"
entre " among " or " between según " according to ",
f
and sin " without

99
.
There are certain common prepositions which require

the insertion of de before the following noun. In English
we say " far from the church ". The Spanish is lejos dé
la iglesia. Cerca means " near ". The palace is near
«= el palacio está cerca. But he lives near the palace
: —
vive cerca del palacio, because a noun follows; in other
words, " near " is a preposition, not an adverb. Similarly
delante {de), in front of, debajo {de), underneath, encima {de),
over, on top of, después {de), after.
Vocabulary
pronunciar = to deliver, utter, hacer «= to make, do.
discurso speech. nacer mm to be born.
andar = to walk. duda = doubt.
sábado =* Saturday. vida = Ufe, living.
rio = river. ganar *» to earn.
zapatero =* shoemaker. tienda « shop.
pasar =
to spend (of time). hora « hour.
Exercise 10(a)
I. El docto profesor pronunció un discurso sobre las
obras de Lope de Vega. 2. Aquel célebre autor nació en
Madrid. 3. Mi primo estaba sentado en un banco delante
1
de su casa cuando entraron lo» soldados en su jardín.
4. ¿Cuánto dinero ha gastado Vd. esta mañana? No he
¿astado más de dos pesetas. 5. Todos los días yo andaba
hasta el río. 6. El sábado ful a la aldea para hacer una
visita a un amigo mío. 7. Hemos andado hoy hasta la
iglesia. 8. Según lo que —
(that which what) dice el
médico, ella está buena. 9. Mientras yo llamaba a la
muchacha, su hermana entró con una amiga suya. 10.
Cuando llegamos a la estación, estábamos muy cansados.
11. Sin duda aquel abogado no tuvo dinero. 12. No
tenían mucho dinero cuando llegaron aquí. 13. Mis amigos
nacieron en una casa cerca de la plaza. 14. Después de
dos días llegamos al río que buscábamos. 15. Este zapatero
trabajaba mucho para ganar su vida. 16. Todos los días
pasaba muchas horas en su tienda. 17. Después de la llegada
de nuestros parientes fuimos con ellos a la iglesia. 18.
Vivimos cinco años en la ciudad más deliciosa de España.
10. ¿ No viajó mucho en Francia el hermano de Vd. ? 20.
Sí. Pasó dos años en París, pero está ahora en Sevilla.
Exercise 10(b)
1. Whendid vou (plural) arrive in London? 2. We
the ) Saturday, but my brother arrived
1
arrived on (put
here this morning. 3. I was talking to the shoemaker
when your cousin entered the shop. 4. Have you seen
Charles? Yes. When I went to the (market) Square he
was sitting on a bench in his garden. 5. After the arrival
of the train we left the station. 6. I was born in Málaga,
but I spent many years in Tarragona. 7. Our house was
not far from the river. 8. In those days this clerk was
very idle :he used to spend many hours in the inn near
the square. 9. While she was in the street the boy broke
the windows of her house. 10. The professor is very
intelligent, and on Saturday he delivered a very excellent
speech. 11. According to what (lo que) this officer says the
soldiers will be here to-morrow. 12. Every day he walked
as far as the church. 13. On Saturday I went towards
the river. 14. They found the money which we were look-
1
En generally denotes a state of rest, but it has sometimes the
idea of direction, differing from a in that it also conveys the notion
of penetration i.e., entering, í ailing into, etc.
;
ing for. 15. Those men who used to be as
rich as your
uncle lost all their money. 16. Haven't you written to your
relations? 17. I wrote to my aunt on Saturday. 18.
Without doubt they worked to earn their living. 19. He
broke the bottle which was on the table. 20. How many
years did you spend in France?
LESSON XI
PRONOUNS
In the previous lesson we dealt with certain prepositions.
They were followed, in the sentences given, by nouns.
Prepositions, however, are frequently followed by personal
pronouns. In English we say "I spoke of him (her)
:
and the Spanish would be hablé de él [ella). Similarly we

could write hablé de ellos [ellas) or hablé de Vd. (vds.).
:
Likewise " of us " is de nosotros (nosotras) and " of you ,
using the familiar plural, would be de vosotros (vosotras).

All these are identical in form with the pronouns already
familiar to us as the subjects of verbs. But with " of
me " and M of thee M (should we ever have occasion to use
the latter^ there is a difference. "Of me" is de mi (mi
meaning my " has no accent sign), and " of thee " is de ti.
1
Of course, the same rules apply to the use of the pronouns

with other prepositions besides de. In fact, we employ
these forms with every preposition except con (with).
" With him (her) " is con él (ella), but for " with me " and
M
with thee we write, by exception, conmigo and contigo
'
in one word. But this is purely exceptional, and applies

only to con. One further point. Con él means " with him
but cannot refer to the subject of the sentence. For this
we want consigo.
Iwas speaking with him = yo hablaba con él.

He was speaking with himself = él hablaba consigo.
From the writing of any tense of a Spanish verb we know
the various forms of the pronouns as subject of a sentence.
We have just dealt with the forms of the pronoun when
governed by a preposition. There remain to be considered
PRONOUNS 6*
the forms of the pronouns as direct (accusative) and in-

direct (dative) objects of a verb i.e., in such sentences as
:
" he sees me (direct) " and " he gives me (indirect object)

a letter (direct object)
Here are the various words in tabular form. You will
see that many are similar to one another.
7\7 n 1 w n ti 1 1 Ttnti dp
yo me me mí
tú te te tí
él le le, lo él
ella le la ella
(ello) (none) (lo) (ello)
nosotros nos nos nosotros
nosotras nos nos nosotras
vosotros os os vosotros
vosotras os os vosotras
ellos les los ellos
ellas les las ellas
The first and fourth columns have already been dealt

with. They
are only included for purposes of comparison
with the middle two, which now concern us. It will be
noticed that there is no difference except in the third
person between the dative and accusative forms, so examples
will mostly be given in the third person, to make the
distinction clear. We rarely use tú, or vosotros, translating
" you " by Vd. This, grammatically, is third person, so
that le, in addition to being the dative of él and meaning
" to him", is also the dative of Vd., and may therefore
mean also " to you
You probably know a little French. If so, what now
follows will not greatly surprise you. In English the object
pronoun (direct or indirect) comes after the verb. In
Spanish (as in French) it comes before it. The only occa-
: sions on which the object pronoun follows the verb in
Spanish are when we use, not an ordinary tense, but the
the gerund and, sometimes, the imperative. But
infinitive,
this can more comfortably be dealt with in a later lesson.
If we want to put " I found her " into Spanish, the order
of the words will be "I her found : Reference to the
—

table will show that the accusative of ella (she) is la (her).
We shall therefore put yo la hallé. The ending of the verb,
however, indicates quite clearly that it was I who found
her, so we can quite well omit the subject pronoun and put
simply : La hallé. A
pronoun means a word that standi
for or instead of a noun.
It follows that the pronoun
must take the gender and number of the noun for which it
stands. Suppose we were referring to a table, and not
to a woman, we should say in English " I found it But
in Spanish every noun must be either masculine or feminine.
Mesa (a table) is feminine. So again we should put lyo)
la hallé.
The accusative él has two forms le and lo. The dis-
:
tinction between them is not strictly observed, but the best

course we can adopt is to put le when the meaning is
" him 99 i.e., when the pronoun stands for a male person,
9
and to put lo when the meaning is "it", i.e., when the

pronoun stands for a thing for which the Spanish noun is
masculine. " I found him (the doctor) = le hallé.
99
" I
found it " (the money) = lo hallé.
In recent exercises we have been using the perfect tense,
formed by the present tense of haber combined with a past
participle e.g., he hallado, meaning, as we saw, sometimes
I have found " and sometimes " I found We can form
what is called the pluperfect tense by combining the im-
perfect of haber with the past participle : había hallado,
which means "I (he) had found
: Both these tenses
are called compound tenses. The object pronoun comes
before the verb in a simple tense of one word. It does so
also in a compound tense. He hallado forms part of one
tense, so the object pronoun comes not only before the
past participle, but before the auxiliary as well.
La hemos hallado mm we have found her.
In a negative the " not " (no) comes after the subject pro-
noun (if it is put in), but in front of the object pronoun.
(Yo) no la he hallado = I have not found her.
So far the examples given have only concerned the direct

object. The rules regarding the position of the indirect
object are the same. Normally a verb does not have an
;
PRONOUNS 67
indirect (dative) object unless it also has a direct one.

For instance " I go to him " would not involve the dative
:
of the pronoun at all, but merely the prepositional. It

would be translated voy a él. Even in such a sentence as
" I speak to him " or "I said to him though no direct
object is in evidence, it is implied, since whatever words
you said to him constitute the direct (accusative) object.
We should therefore say le hablo and le dije.
: In the
sentence :
" she wrote me a letter " the real meaning is :
" she wrote a letter (direct) to me (indirect) should We

therefore put me escribió una carta. Another use of the
:
dative pronoun is to represent the person for whose benefit

or profit something is done e.g., " I bought them some
:
apples " =les he comprado manzanas.

Ser is often used with an adjective in the formation of
impersonal verbs; for instance, " it is impossible " it is
evident These would be followed generally either by
an infinitive or by a " that " clause introduced by que.
With such expressions the dative pronoun is freely used.
It is evident to me that he works hard = me es evidente
que trabaja mucho.
It is difficult for me to learn Spanish = me es difícil
aprender el español.
Here are some other common impersonal verbs :
Es preciso = it is necessary es lástima

; = it is a pity
es verdad = it is true; es mentira it = is a lie.
Is it true ? etc., can be rendered without alteration of the

words, either the tone of voice or the written interrogative
signs sufficiently indicating that a question is being asked :
¿Es verdad?
The neuter ello (it) never refers to definite nouns, but to
adjectives or statements. For instance " He says that
:
eating snails is good for the health, but I do not believe

in it "= no creo en ello (i.e., in the eating of snails as a step
towards good health). Similarly, when you hear a row in
the street, you say " What is it ? —
meaning " What is it all
'
—
about ? " without reference to some definite noun. So in
Spanish ¿ Qué es ello ? Again, " I believe it (referring to
' •
some statement) =
Lo creo. This lo is, of course, not to
be confused with the accusative lo or le of él referred to
previously, and standing for a definite masculine noun.
There is a good deal more to be said about object pronouns,
particularly in the matter of distinguishing between le
meaning V him " and le meaning " you But this lesson
has already given you a lot to think about, and we will
leave further points for the next one. Meanwhile, refer
constantly to the table when in doubt, and you will soon
master the various forms. The exercises below will give
you a good deal of practice.
Vocabulary
venir =
to come. ¿ cómo ? = how ?
suceder =
to happen. nada = nothing.
prometer =
to promise. s¿ mm I know.
satisfecho =
satisfied, pleased. regalo = present.
f>usto =
pleasure. entender = to understand.
interesante =
interesting. estudiar = to study.
bien (adv.) =
well.
Exercise 1 1 (a)
Mi padre me ha dado un reloj de oro. 2. Voy a hacer

i.
una visita a mi primo ¿ quiere Vd. venir conmigo ? 3. ¿ Por
:
qué ha venido Vd. sin ella? 4. Me es siempre imposible

entender lo que nos dice el médico. 5. *| Qué casa tan de-
liciosa ¿Cómo la llama Vd. ? 6. ¿Dónde está la hija
I
de Vd. No (lo) sé, pero yo la llamaré. 7. He perdido

?
mi bolsillo. ¿ Lo ha visto Vd. ? 8. Sí. Lo he hallado

en la calle y lo he dado a su marido. 9. Me es preciso
trabajar mucho para ganar mi vida. 10. ¿Escribe Vd. a
su madre? No. Le escribí el sábado, n. Los hijos del
general están muy satisfechos porque les ha comprado
un auto. 12. El profesor pronunció un discurso muy
interesante lo escuchamos con mucho gusto.
: 13. El
abogado me dice que el hijo del médico está en Madrid.
¿ Es verdad ? 14. Es mentira. Mi vecino le ha visto esta
mañana. 15. ¿Qué ha sucedido a Carlos? 16. ¿Qué le
ha sucedido ? Nada. Está muy bueno. 17. Aquellas
mujeres no tienen dinero. Les he dado dos pesetas. 18.
¿ La carta de Vd. ? No la he recibido. 19. Me es imposible
estudiar mientras Vds hablan.
OBJECT PRONOUNS— REFLEXIVE VERBS 69
Exercise 11(b)
X. I am
going to see the farmer do you want to come
:
with me? 2. Why has she not come with him? 3. He

says that he will buy her a present. 4. Where did you
find my handkerchiefs? We found them underneath the
table in your room. 5. Here are the books which I bought
him. 6. I used to have a gold pencil but I sold it on
Saturday, 7. I did not give them a present because they
were not polite. 8. I saw her this morning while I was
walking towards the river, p. We will write to them to-
morrow. 10. It is difficult for us to listen to the birds.
11. If you give (da) him a car he will sell it. 12. He used
to speak to us every day. 13. It is true that I did not
receive the present which he had promised me. 14. He
says that the train has left the station, but I don't believe
it. 15. Where are your neighbours? We have not seen
them. 16. It is impossible for us to understand what you
say. 17. I do not know what (that which) has happened
to them. 18. It is true that he sold his house, but I did
not buy it. 19. He lost his money and he had not found it
when I went into his room this morning. 20. Why have
you not sold them ?
LESSON XII
OBJECT PRONOUNS— REFLEXIVE VERBS

It was pointed out, in the lesson on possessives, that su
may mean your, their. To make the meaning
his, her, its,
clear, the appropriate personal pronoun was substituted
for su and de put before it e.g., el sombrero de él (de Vd.)
:
instead of su sombrero.
A similar device is also used with object pronouns. Le,
for instance, as a glance at the table shows, might be the
masculine accusative of él or the dative of either él or ella.
In other words, it may mean him, to him, or to her. But
this is not all. Since Vd. the usual translation of " you
t
is third person, le may also mean "you" or "to you".

Obviously this is liable to lead to confusion, for le veo may
mean either " I see him " or " I see you Fortunately
the difficulty is easily overcome.
When the noun object of a verb is a person, we put the
preposition a before it. Y
o veo a la mujer (al hombre) =» I
see the woman (the man). Adapting this practice to
pronouns, we make the meaning of le clear by writing le
veo a Ü if it means " I see him , and le veo a Vd. if the mean-
99
99
ing is I see you
Note, however, that the le must be put in. You cannot
simply say veo a Vd.
: It is true that you would put
voy a Vd. =
I go to you, but that is quite different.
" To go" is complete in itself it has no object at all.
:
in " I see
99
But you
the pronoun is the object the le is
:
essential, the a Vd. an accessory to make the meaning clear.

The le comes in its normal position before the verb, the
a Vd. after the verb (though, in cases of great emphasis,
it may be put at the beginning of the sentence). But the
normal order is this no le he mandado a él
: =
I have not
sent him.
This repetition of the object in the prepositional form of
the pronoun is not confined only to sentences in which le
occurs : it is used with the other object pronouns as well.
You see, at best, me, nos, etc., are very weak-sounding

and short. They will not convey the most meagre degree
of emphasis, so, to make them more robust, the repetition
method is employed, using the various forms of the pronoun
used after prepositions which we already know. " It seems
to me " might be simply me parece, but the phrase would
99
acquire far more " body if it were rendered me parece
a mi. Again, using another impersonal verb, importar (to

"
matter, to be important), " what does it matter to us?
would be ¿ qué:nos importa a nosotros ?
Reflexive Verbs
In the majority of sentences the subject and object of
a verb refer to different persons or things, as in such phrases
I see you/' " he sees me
94 9
as or I kill him But .
sometimes the subject and object refer to the same person

99 99
or thing :e.g., I kill myself Verbs of this kind are
.
called reflexive verbs. A

fencing foil that is flexible will
bend under pressure until the tip of the blade meets the
:
hilt. So here the object M bends back as it were, and

refers to the subject.
The pronoun le means many things, as we have seen, but
it isnot reflexive. El le mata means that he (A) kills him
(B). It does not mean he kills himself. For this we want
se (as in French), which is both singular and plural and
covers all third-person forms in reflexive verbs. Since Vd.
is grammatically third person, se will also mean yourself
or yourselves, in addition to himself, herself, itself, them-
selves and oneself. The ordinary object pronouns do duty
for the other persons. The present tense of the verb
matar (to kill) used reflexively would therefore run as
follows
yo me mato = I kill myself.

(tú te = (thou killest thyself).
matas)
Vd. ella) se mata = you (he, her) kill(s) yourself,
(él,
(himself, herself).
nosotros nos matamos = we kill ourselves.
(vosotros os matáis) = (you kill yourselves).
Vds. (ellos, ellas) se matan = you (they) kill yourselves
(themselves).
Such verbs, of course, can be used also in the ordinary

way : i.e., La mató (a ella)
not reflexively. he killed her. =
In their compound tenses reflexive verbs follow the same
order of words as other verbs.
El no se ha defendido = he has not defended himself.

¿ No se ha lastimado el niño ?= hasn't the child hurt
himself ?
You must remember that the word " myself " is not always
reflexive. In the sentence " I see myself myself is the
object referring to the same person as the subject, and is
therefore reflexive. But if you said " I saw him myself
P him " is the object and " myself " is only an intensification
of the subject, and would be rendered by mismo (-ma, -mos,
-mas). So the first would be me veo, and the second yo
mismo le he visto, though there are alternative ways of
putting it.
" He speaks of " u "
me is habla de mí. I speak of myself
is hablo de mi. In other words, the forms of reflexive pro-
nouns after prepositions are the same as those of ordinary
personal pronouns after prepositions. But just as in re-
flexive verbs we use se in the third person, where in an
ordinary verb we should put le, la, los or las, so also the
reflexive form of the thira person after prepositions is si.
" He speaks of himself M =
habla de sí. " You (they)
speak of yourselves (themselves) " =
Vds. (ellos) hablan de
sí.
Just as mí and ti governed by con become conmigo, contigo,

%o does si take the form consigo.
Are you talking to yourself ? -* ¿ Habla Vd. consigo ?
Reflexive pronouns can, of course, be indirect (dative)

as well as direct (accusative) objects.
Me he comprado un regalo mm I have bought myself (dative)

a present (accusative).
Ella se enseñó el inglés = she taught herself English.
The Conditional
In an earlier lesson we learned that the imperfect indica-
tive could be formed by adding certain endings to the
stem. The imperfect endings of the er verbs were identical
with those of %r verbs. In the conditional, ar, er and it
verbs all have the same endings that er and ir verbs have
in the imperfect. The conditional (I should or would take,
eat, live) is formed by adding these endings to the
infinitive.
Present Conditional
yo tomar-ia comer-ia vivir-ia
(tú tomar-ías) (comer-fas) (vivir-ías)
Vd. (él) tomar-ía comer-ía vivir-ía
nosotros tomar-íamos comer-íamos vivir-íamoi
(vosotros tomar-fais) (comer-íais) (vivir-fais)
Vds. (ellos) tomar-Jan comer-ían vivir-ían
Vocabulary
aguardar —
to wait for, expect. ocultar— to hide.
quitar =» to take oñ. detrás de — behind.
robar = to steal. sobretodo = over-

ladrón = robber. coat.
guardia civil (masc.) = policeman, zapato = shoe.
mozo = porter. baúl = trunk (lug-
llevar = to carry.
1
g a g e )»
Exercise 12(a)
X. Aquí está el regalo que le he comprado a Vd. 2. El
se ha comprado un sobretodo. 3. Cuando llegaron los
guardias civiles se ocultó el ladrón detrás de la puerta: 4.
El ladrón me ha robado el sombrero. 5. El se quitó los
zapatos. 6. Le aguardaré a Vd. delante de la iglesia. 7.
No me parece a mí que estos libros son muy interesantes.
8. No sé por qué esta pobre mujer se ha matado. 9. Le
prometí a él que Vd. le aguardaría. 10. ¿No los recibiría
Vd. a ellos? 11. ¿No la ha llamado Vd. a ella? 12. Ella
se llama Mercedes. 13. Yo llamaré a Juan está en el
:
jardín. 14. El me ha dado a mí el dinero que le prometió

a Vd. 15. ¿Sabe Vd. lo que le ha sucedido a ella? Ha
perdido el tren. 16. ¿Qué le importa a ella? 17. No
creo que estos niños se han lastimado. 18. Su madre está
mala pero ella misma está buena. 19. Este hombre es
muy inteligente, pero habla siempre de sí. 20. Llevaron
consigo sus baúles.
Exercise 12(b)
Didn't you see us this morning? 2. I shall buy
1.
myself a car. 3. We have bought him a present. 4. He
hid himself underneath the table. 5. We shall expect you
(plural) to-morrow. 6. Did you not expect me to-day?
7. It seems to me that you do not listen to him. 8. We
did not promise them any presents. 9. He took off his
overcoat (refer to previous exercise, sentence 5). 10. I
will take off your shoes. 11. Has the policeman hurt
himself? 12. I myself killed the robbers. 13. It doesn't
matter to me. 14. I will callhim myself. 15. My eldest
brother is called John. 16.They promised that they
would wait for me. 17. Why have you given him the
letter which I wrote to you? 18. It is not true that she
1
Llevar means to carry from one place to somewhere further off,
traer to bring nearer to the speaker.
— —

killed herself. 19. He talked of himself but I did not
listen to him. 20. He does not give me as many presents
as he buys you.
LESSON XIII
THE OBJECT PRONOUN (concluded)
Hitherto we have dealt only with a single pronoun

object. But it is quite possible for both the indirect
(dative) and direct (accusative) objects of a verb to be
pronouns. " He has given it to me
99
is a case in point.
Here the same general principle still holds good. Both
pronouns come before the verb. But what about the
order ? Are we to put lo me ha dado or me lo ha dado ?
Actually the latter is correct. Hence the following rule :
When there are two object pronouns the dative comes

before the accusative (though, to be strictly accurate, in
reflexive verbs se comes first of the two, whatever its
case).
Nos lo prestará = he will lend it to us.
or " to
99
Now for the next step. Le means " to him
you It follows that in many sentences both direct and
indirect objects will be of the third person. Instead of
" he will lend it to us we also want to be able to say
" I will lend it to him " or " I will lend it to you We
should thus expect to put yo le lo prestaré. But here we
:
are wrong. The two short words both beginning with the
same letter sound awkward and confusing, so this further
rule is made :
When both objects are in the third person, the dative

(which will by the previous rule come first of the two) is
rendered by se, whether for singular or plural. Therefore,
99
for " I will lend it (acc.) to him (dative) 9
we write (yo) :
se lo prestaré. Th¿s change from le to se takes place only

when both object pronouns are in the third person.
Se, then, stands here for le, and le may mean either " to
him " or " to you ". So, as in the previous lesson, we add
the appropriate form of the pronoun preceded by a to
—
THE OBJECT PRONOUN (concluded) 75
make the meaning clear. Thus the final result is : (yo)

se lo prestaré a él (a Vd., etc.). Se used reflexively can,
of course, be intensified like the other object pronouns :
Me engañó a mi =
he deceived me.
Se engañó a si =
he deceived himself.
The se used in se lo prestaré is not reflexive, but a sub-
stitute for le, so the addition is a el (or a Vd.), not a si, as
in the reflexive sentence.
One further point. Both pronouns can come before the
verb only if the direct object is of the third person. If it
is of the first person or second (though this will not arise
for us, since we translate " you " by le, which is third
person), then the dative object must come after the verb.
For instance " they will introduce her to me "
: me =
la presentarán, because " her the direct object, is of the
M "
third person. But for they will introduce me to her
:
we should have to put me presentarán a ella. This

:
necessity does not often arise, but it is as well to know

how to cope with it.
The ordinary translation of " I will give it to your
brother " is /o daré al hermano de Vd. But it is quite
common to find a dative pronoun inserted i.e., se (sub- :
stituted for le) lo daré, and then al hermano de Vd. This

se is quite unnecessary, since the dative object is a noun,
not a pronoun but you must be prepared to encounter it
;
in your reading, and remember that the se is not to be

translated.
There is one more case when the prepositional form of
the pronoun is required, this time instead of, not as well
as, the other. This is when there is no verb expressed.
For whom are you looking ? =
¿ a quién busca Vd. ?
Suppose the answer is " him We
might make a whole
sentence and say le busco [a él).
: But if we simply say
" him we cannot render it in Spanish by the one word
le, because there is no verb expressed of which it can be
the object. So we should use the prepositional form and

say :a él.
Again :"He likes the cook more than me " quiere =
más a mi (and not me, because there
la cocinera que a is no
verb expressed before which it can be put).
—
The Imperative
When you command anyone to do anything, you are
using the imperative. Furthermore, since you are addres-
sing them, you are necessarily using the second person.
The imperative proper therefore exists only in the second
person singular and plural. Thus " speak " is habla, or : !
in the plural, hablad. Now, these are the tú and vosotros

forms which we, as foreigners, are practically never going
to use. Nevertheless, we do want to be able to order, or
at all events ask, somebody to do something. The missing
forms of the imperative that we want are borrowed from
the present subjunctive. While we are at it, we also take
the first person plural, which allows us to say "let us :
speak, eat, live, etc.". We have then :
Speak (sing.) . hable Vd. coma Vd. viva Vd.

Let us speak . hablemos comamos vivamos
Speak (plural) . hablen Vds. coman Vds. vivan Vds.
We shall find, in practice, that we seldom give com-

mands, but we make requests. For this we shall want the
imperative (i.e., subjunctive) of tener and hacer (to do) in
the expressions tenga Vd. la bondad de
: have the kind- =
ness to. Hágame Vd. el favor de do me the favour of.=
In this second sentence you will see that " do me " is
rendered by hágame. In other words, the dative pronoun
me is after the verb, not in front of it. What is the ex-
planation? It is this The object pronoun of a verb in
:
the infinitive or in the imperative affirmative follows the

verb. The same holds good also of the gerund or present
participle, but it will be as well to delay consideration of
this for the moment. In the light of this new piece of
information it should not be difficult to master the matter
from the following examples :
I see him (you) = le veo a él (a Vd.).

I want to write to him = quiero escribirle.
Note that the object pronoun is joined on to the

infinitive and forms one word with it.
— —
THE OBJECT PRONOUN (concluded) 77
Have the kindness to (or, please) buy me a paper =«

tenga Vd. la bondad de comprarme un periódico.
Escríbales Vd. al instante =
write to them at once.
When the direct and indirect objects are both pronouns,

they both follow the infinitive and imperative affirmative
with the dative first. They can be intensified, too, in the
normal way :
Cómpremelos Vd. = buy them for me.

Enséneselo Vd. a ellos = teach it to them.
(Note that the addition of the pronouns does not alter

the stress of the verb. In compren the stress falls on the
first syllable, in cómpremelos, as we still want the stress
on the first syllable, the accent mark must be supplied,
otherwise it would fall on me.)
When the imperative is negative, the pronouns (as in
French) follow the general rule and come before the verb
in the ordinary way :
Dénmelo Vds. = give itto me.

No me lo den Vds. = don't give it to me.
Since, grammatically, dénmelo means " may you give

rather than simply " give the Vd. is generally supplied.
This, of course, applies to all other imperative verbs.
Vocabulary
página = page. fósforo= match.
novela = novel. fumar = to smoke.
en casa = at home. enviar = to send.
dar = to give^ sino = but.
Sino means " but " in the sense of " but on the contrary
and is used after a negative statement.
Exercise 13(a)
i. Hágame Vd. favor de leerme unas páginas de esta
el
novela. 2. ¿Está en casa el hermano de Vd? Quiero
hablarle de un asunto importante. 3. No me lo den Vds.
a mí, dénselo a él. 4. No hablo el español, pero ella ha
7* TEACH YOURSELF SPANISH
prometido enseñármelo. 5. Tenga Vd. la bondad de
traerme esos fósforos, quiero fumar. 6. Estos cuchillos son
míos. Mi padre me los envió de Madrid. 7. No sé dónde
está mi amigo: me es imposible escribirle. 8. ¿Quién es
esa muchacha ? Hágame Vd. el favor de presentarme a ella.
9. ¿Cuándo nos lo prestará Vd. a nosotros? 10. Ellos
quieren comprar mi casa, pero yo no quiero vendérsela.
11. Ocultémonos detrás de la puerta. 12. No nos ocul-
temos allí sería mejor quedarnos aquí.
: 13. Los que
engañan a los otros se engañan a menudo a sí mismos. 14.
Aquí está su sobretodo. ¿Quiere Vd. prestármelo? 15.
No se lo hemos dado a Vd., sino a él. 16. No me haga
Vd. a mí este favor, hágaselo a ella. 17. Si Vd. quiere
comprar este auto yo se lo venderé. 18. No me presente
Vd. a él, sino a ella. 19. Este caballo será mañana de Vd.
Yo sé cjue él se lo ha prometido. 20. No me quite Vd.
este periódico : quiero leerlo.
Exercise 13(b)
1. I send them to you. 2. He wishes to give them
will
to me. 3. Have the kindness to give them to him. 4.
Do not send it to me, send it to him. 5. Let us walk as
far as the river. 6. Is your friend at home? 7. I wish
to see him. 8. If you have not got this novel I will lend
it to you. 9. I will not give it to him, but to you. 10.
I will introduce you to her. 11. I will send them to you.
12. It is impossible for me to send it to you. 13. They
have deceived themselves. 14. My matches are on the
table in my room please bring them to me.
: 15. He did
not sell it to us. 16. Please introduce him to me. 17.
It will not be easy to teach it to her. 18. I shall not
lend them to you. 19. I will give them to you. 20. Do
not sell it to him, sell it to me.
LESSON XIV
RELATIVE PRONOUNS
The commonest relative pronoun in Spanish is que. We
have already encountered the word, botn as a relative and
"
as a conjunction (that), and with the meaning of "than
— — — —
RELATIVE PRONOUNS 79
in comparisons. As a relative pronoun it is translated as

who, whom, that, and sometimes as which. It applies to
persons or things, and can be either the subject or object
of a verb. But relative pronouns in Spanish (or French)
can never be left out, as they frequently are in English :
The things (that) he says = las cosas que dice.

The book which is on the table = el libro que está sobre
la mesa.
The man who is here «= el hombre que está aquí.
Que, governed by a preposition, is used in reference to

things :
The matters of which they spoke = los asuntos de que

hablaron.
Que, governed by a preposition, cannot refer to people.

It ismuch the same in English. We can put " the man :
(that) I saw We cannot put " the man from that I :
bought my car We must use " whom Similarly in

Spanish, the relative governed by a preposition and refer-
ring to a person is quien (plural quienes).
Note that the absence of the accent sign distinguishes
relative pronouns from interrogatives. Even when a has
no dative force, but is merely inserted to distinguish the
object, a quien is preferable to que :
El hombre a quien he visto =

the man (whom) I saw.
Es un hombre a quien no importa nada he is a man to =
whom nothing matters.
94
Who (whom) " used after some part of to be, following
a noun or pronoun, is likewise quien (not que) :
It is he who built this house = es él quien ha edificado

esta casa.
It is I who killed him = soy y o quien le he matado (a él).
Notice, in passing, that " it is I " is not es yo, but soy

yo. Similarly, " it is we " =
somos nosotros, and the verb
in the relative sentence following would be in the same
person as that of the word to which quien (quienes) refers :
Somos nosotros quienes le hemos matado.

—— — —
8o TEACH YOURSELF SPANISH

Another form of the relative is el cual (la cual, los cuales,
las cuales). This is substituted for quxen or que in the
following circumstances :
Firstly, when the relative is governed by a preposition

of more than one syllable, or by por This last is included
.
since pot que would be mistaken for " because " :
The river towards which we are walking — el rio hasta el

cual andamos.
The door behind which they hid =« la puerta detrás de la
cual se ocultaron.
Secondly, cual is used when que does not stand next

el
to, or at least very close to, its antecedent i.e., the word :
to which it refers. El cual has various different forms,

que only one, so el cual is used to make the meaning of the
relative clear, whenever it is separated from its antecedent.
Consider this sentence :
The prince used to give audiences in the garden of the

palace which belonged to his father.
Here " which " clearly refers to the palace and comes
next to it.
So we can put : el principe daba audiencias en el jardin

del palacio que pertenecía a su padre.
Now, with a slight alteration :
The prince used to give audiences in the garden of the

palace to which he invited his subjects.
Here " which " does not refer to the palace garden, but
to the audiences. Que cannot be used, as it must refer to
the noun nearest beiore it.
So we put el principe daba audiencias en el jardín del
:
palacio a las cuales convidaba a sus subditos.

And thirdly the prince used to give audiences in the
:
palace gardens which pleased his subjects very much.

:
Here what pleased his subjects was not the audiences,

nor the garden, but the actual giving of the entertainment.
" Which " refers to no definite noun, but to the whole idea,
and we use lo que the which "or " that which ") already
introduced in previous lessons. El principe daba audiencias
en el jardín del palacio : lo que (les) agradaba mucho a sus
subditos.
Sometimes the sentence may be rearranged so as to
—
bring the relative next to its antecedent, in which case, oí

course, que can be used :
He had a house in the main street which gave on to the

river.
Here, obviously, it isthe house, not the street, which

had the view on the river. So, altering the order slightly,
we can say : Tenía en la Calle Mayor una casa que daba al
río.
In dealing with interrogatives we saw that " which (which
one) ? " was ¿ cuál [cuáles) ?
Which of the two houses will you buy ? = ¿ cuál de las

dos casas comprará Vd. ?
In indirect questions the interrogative cuál, not the

relative el cual, is likewise used.
I do not know which of the two houses I shall buy = no

sé cuál de las dos casas compraré.
El cual may be followed by a noun as in English.

"Which house ? " is ¿ cuál de las casas ? This is interrogative.
The relative el cual with a noun is less common. But it
might occur in such a sentence as this He lived many
:
years in Paris, in which city he had many friends Vivió =

durante muchos años en París, en la cual exudad tenía muchos
amigos. But one could more easily say En París, ciudad
:
en que (or en donde) tenía muchos amigos.

It has already been pointed out that in relative sentences
the subject frequently follows the verb. There are occa-
sions when it cannot, though these are beyond the scope
of this book. So for most practical purposes you may say
that in relative clauses the subject is most elegantly placed
after the verb.
"
"
The Relative Whose
Cuyo (-a, -os, -as) means " whose " or " of which and
refers to either persons or things. Like mi and other pos-
sessives, it " agrees " with the thing possessed, and not with
the owner. We can say in English either " the town whose
streets " or " the town the streets of which In Spanish
cuyo can only be used in the first way la población
: cuyas
calles , etc.
Cuyo, like que, relates to an antecedent immediately
before it. If whose " is separated from its antecedent,
then de quien {de quienes) is used instead.
These men were two of Napoleon's soldiers whose
bravery was undeniable — estos hombres eran dos
soldados de Napoleón, de quienes el valor era innegable.
Cuyo would refer to Napoleon, not to the two men.
" Whose ? " as an interrogative is, as we saw earlier, ¿de
quién [de quiénes) ? This is genitive, and means really
" of whom? " So, not interrogatively, does cuyo. Now,
in a recent exercise we had the sentence I wül take off :
your shoes =
yo le quitaré a Vd. los zapatos, and we put,
in effect, " the shoes to you instead of " your shoes ".
In Spanish the definite article (as in French) is used in-
stead of the possessive before parts of the body or clothes.
" He has cut his finger " becomes" he has cut the finger
to himself " =
se ha cortado el dedo. We have got to
remember this in the translation of " whose ", referring to
clothes or parts of the body. For " the man whose wife
:
is ill " we put el hombre cuya esposa está enferma

: but ;
in the sentence " the man whose leg I broke we cannot

put cuyo, which is genitive and means of whom
9i
because
we have to say the man to whom I broke the leg "
: =
el hombre a quien he fracturado la pierna.
This has been a fairly lengthy explanation, but relatives
are always cropping up (like their namesakes in everyday
life), and one must be in a position to deal with their
eccentricities.
Vocabulary
asombrar = to astonish. cirujano = surgeon.
amputar = to amputate. cesta = basket.
encontrar = to meet. frutos = fruit (plural).
gobernador = governor. brazo = arm.
agradable = pleasing, charming, molestar = to annoy.
Exercise 14(a)
i. Los discursos que pronuncia el Profesor X son muy
interesantes. 2. No he leído todos los libros de que él
hablaba. 3. ; Quién tomó el lápiz con que yo escribía?

4. ¿ Cómo seaquellos dos niños que están andando
ñaman
hacia la aldea ? 5. Son los hijos del pobre zapatero a quien
los cirujanos amputaron ayer el brazo. 6. Son los hijos
del tendero, a los cuales Vd. envió ayer una cesta de frutos.
7. Ella tiene una casa muy agradable cuyas ventanas
superiores dan al jardín del gobernador. 8. Aquel profesor
ha leído todas las comedias de Lope de Vega lo que me :
asombra. 9. Aquellos hombres son los dos criados del

médico a cuya esposa hemos encontrado esta mañana. 10.
Aquella mujer es la cocinera de Carlos, de la cual yo le
hablé a Vd. n. El ha leído la carta que recibí lo que :
me molesta. 12. ¿Es este el hombre en cuya tienda Vd.

ha entrado? 13. ¿Sabe Vd. cuál de estos libros me ha
prestado ? 14. Los muchachos entre los cuales él se halló
eran amigos suyos. 15. ¿Es Vd. quien se ha cortado el
dedo? 16. Somos nosotros quienes cantábamos cuando
entró Vd. en el cuarto. 17. ¿ De quién es este auto ? No
es mío sino de mi hermano. 18. El hombre a quien
encontré ayer es panadero. 19. Le aguardaré a Vd. delante
de la iglesia cerca de la cual hay una posada. 20. El
general, el cual 1 nació en Madrid, vive ahora en Burgos.
Exercise 14(b)
1. He
says that he has no money which is (a) lie. 2.
:
That is not the man you met. 3. The soldier whose wife
iron have seen comes from Toledo. 4. The soldier whose
eg the surgeon amputated is here. 5. The soldier whose
wife's arm (turn into the soldier to whose wife) the
:
surgeon amputated is a friend of mine. 6. We Uve in a

house behind which there is a stable. 7. That girl is the
elder daughter of the lawyer whom you met. 8. The
daughter of the lawyer whom (referring to daughter) you
have seen this morning is married. 9. It was I who came
into your shop. 10. Aren't the houses cheap which give
on to the square ? 11. I have not read the works on which
1 Sometimes, even when the meaning is clear, you may find el
cual used instead of que. There is no need to worry about this, but
you may meet it in the course of your reading. This usage occurs
•ometimes when the relative clause is as important as the main
•entence and divided from it by commas.
— —

he gave us a speech. 12. I am going to pay a visit to the
governor which will be very pleasant. 13. The man in
:
whose office I found myself used to be very rich. 14. It

is not those workmen who are idle. 15. Our cook, who
arrived yesterday from Madrid, is very talkative. 16. The
matters of which you spoke are not important to me. 17.
There is a house in this street which I want to buy. 18.
My friends, in whose garden we are, want to teach me
English. 19. I do not know which of these hats is yours.
20. Do you know which of these baskets are mine ?
LESSON XV
CONJUGATION OF REGULAR VERBS
This lesson marks the half-way stage in this little book.
It will be as' well, therefore, to devote the exercises to
revision of some of the points dealt with so far. Thus,
there being nothing new this time to introduce into the
preliminary matter, we may profitably show in tabular
form the full conjugation of the three classes of regular
verbs. The indicative tenses we have already used. But
they are here grouped together for convenience, and with
— —
them for reference only at this stage are the tenses of
the subjunctive mood. All regular verbs are conjugated
after the manner shown in the table. Those of the first
conjugation (infinitive in -at) have the endings under the
heading 1, those of the second conjugation (infinitive in
-er) the endings under heading 2, those of the third
(infinitives in -it) the endings under heading 3.
In using the table, remember the following points :
1. The future indicative and the conditional are formed
by adding the given endings to the infinitive (tomar, comer,

vivir).
2. All other parts of the verb i.e., the remaining tenses
of the indicative, all those of the subjunctive, the impera-

tive, the past participle, the present participle (or gerund)
— are formed by adding the given endings to the stem
{torn-, com-, viv-).
3. The first and third persons singular of many tenses
CONJUGATION OF REGULAR VERBS 85
are alike, so the pronoun subject will probably have to be

inserted.
4. The first person plural of the present and past definite
are also often exactly similar.
5. All compound active tenses are formed by combining
some part of haber with the past participle of the verb in
question. Perfect, he hablado, pluperfect, había hablado,
future perfect, habré hablado, etc.
Conjugation of Regular Verbs

Infinitive. Past Participle. Present Participle.
1. 2. 3. 1. 2 & 3. 1. 2 & 3.
-ar -er -ir -ado -ido -ando -iendo
Indicative Mood. Subjunctive Mood.

Present. Present.
I. 2. 3. 1. 2 & 3.
-0 -0 -0 -e -a
-as -es -es -es -as
-a -e -e -e -a
-amos -emos -imos -emos -amos
-áis -éis -is -éis -áis
-an -en -en -en -an
Imperfect. Imperfect.
1. 2 & 3. 1. 2 & 3.
-aba -ia -ara -iera
-abas -ias -aras -ieras
-aba -ia -ara -iera
-ábamos -iamos -áramos -iéramos
-abáis -iais -aráis -ierais
-aban -ian -aran -ieran
Past Definite. Past.

1. 2 & 3. 1. 2 & 3.
-é -i -ase -iese
-aste -iste -ases -ieses
-Ó -ió -ase -iese
-amos -imos -ásemos -iésemos
-asteis -isteis -aséis -ieseis
-aron -ieron -asen -iesen
.

Future. Future.
T o fir 1 1. 2 & 3,
-é -are -iere
-ás -ares -ieres
-á -are -iere
-emos -áremos -iéremos
-éis -aréis -iereis
-án -aren -ieren
rôicnTTTmsi
V/vMÎ at IVxvJKJD
Ul 1 1\JIN AL, ATnnn Imperative Mood.
I, 2 & 3. i. 2. 3.
la
ías -a -e -e
ía
íamos
íais -ad -ed -id
ían
Vocabulary
tarde (fern.) = afternoon. seguro «= sure, certain.
convidar =
to invite. situación =
situation.
por desgracia =
unfortunately, politico mm political.
decir =to say, tell. dejar =
to leave.
anteojos (plur.) = spectacles. repisa de la chimenea —
mantelpiece.
Exercise 15(a)
X. Voy a pasar unos días en casa de mi primo en
Santander : él le ha convidado también a Vd. 2. Por
desgracia me es imposible ir con Vd., por que mi madre
está mala. 3. ¿A quién está buscando Vd. ? A Juan.
Quiero decirle que un pariente suyo llegará aquí esta tarde.
4. Son ellos quienes han roto las ventanas. 5. No es tan
docto este profesor como lo que dice. 6. Nuestra casa no
tiene tantas habitaciones como la de Vd. 7. Mi vecino
dice que hay aquí más de veinte oficiales, pero no lo creo.
8. Me parece a mí que Vd. ha olvidado todo lo que había
aprendido. 9. No le preste Vd. a él su reloj es seguro :
que lo perderá. 10. Es la mujer más habladora a quien

he encontrado jamás. II. La botella no está llena de agua,
sino de cerveza. 12. ¿En cuál de los bancos está sentado
FIRST READING LESSON 87
su primo? En el que compré ayer. 13. Esta novela no

es buena, es la peor de las obras de Valera. 14. Háganos
Vd. el favor de leernos este artículo sobre la situación
política. 15. ¿Dónde están sus anteojos? Los he dejado
sobre la repisa de la chimenea en mi cuarto. 16. ¿ A quién
aguardaba Vd. esta mañana? A un amigo mío. 17. No
han llevado consigo sus baúles. Los han dejado en el tren.
18. El hombre más rico de la aldea es el que está sentado
delante de la posada. 19. Yo no se lo enviaré a él. 20.
Esta es la iglesia más célebre de la ciudad.
Exercise 15(b)
1. To which two boys will you give this knife?
of these
2. The house towards which we were §oing gave on to a
small garden. 3. There are three articles in this paper
which I am going to read. 4. It will not be easy for me
to send them to you. 5. How many baskets of fruit have
you given her ? 6. I have left my shoes in my room have;
the goodness to bring them to me. 7. Let us listen to the

birds. 8. I do not know how many bottles of beer he has
drunk. 9. Every day he walked as far as the square. 10.
Have you seen the thief for whom the police are looking ?
IX. The man whose car I bought is a very celebrated
author. 12. The house behind which I found myself
belonged to the doctor. 13. Whose is this overcoat?
Yours or his? 14. It is not these workmen who are so
skilful. 15. This is the most pleasant city in Spain. 16.
It is true that I have bought myself a watch/ but it was
very cheap. 17. In front of which door shall I wait for
you? 18. It is certain she will cut her finger. 19. We
shall not remain here more than two days. 20. It is im-
possible for us to read while you talk.
LESSON XVI
FIRST READING LESSON
The time has now come to tackle a bit of real Spanish.
Hitherto you have only had to cope with bits specially
prepared for you and made to suit your limited vocabulary.
This being your first attempt at translation, you must
—

be ready to take the trouble to turn up a good many words
in the vocabulary at the end of the book, but you will find
that, with practice, your range of words will rapidly in-
crease.
You might think that, with the aid of a Spanish dic-
tionary,you could translate any passage without knowing
any grammar at all. But this is not so. The dictionary
does not give every word that you are liable to meet,
particularly in the case of verbs.
Take the simple word repliqué, for instance. You will
not find it in the dictionary. But you should by this
time know enough grammar to recognise it as the first
person singular of the past definite of a first conjugation
verb. You will, therefore, be able to find it in the
vocabulary in the form replicar, and the rest is easy.
It will not always be quite so simple. There is encuentro,
for example. This looks like the first person of a verb.
So it is. There is no verb encuentrar, but there is encontrar,
which we have already used. The verb is irregular, or at
least peculiar, in certain tenses, and it, together with others
like it, will be dealt with in succeeding lessons. Some
verbs, of course, are disgustingly irregular. We have our
share of them in English (why should went be the past
tense of go?). In this passage the word dispongo appears.
The thing to do in this case is to turn to the table of
irregular verbs, where you will quickly run it to earth as
the present indicative of disponer. Dijo, likewise, can be
traced to decir. You may find this difficult at first, but
you will quickly get the hang of it.
Translation may be done in two ways literal and free.
In the literal translation the meaning is given from the
Spanish word by word, and the English will read stiffly,
and sometimes seem hardly intelligible. The free trans-
lation, on the other hand, takes the meaning of a passage
as a whole and turns it into good English. You will
appreciate this difference better when you come to read
in Part II the two translations of the first extract.
Don't be afraid of being too literal at first. You will
soon be able to pay more attention to the style of your
English. A dictionary, if you have one, is useful but it
;
is a bad thing to be a slave to it. In any case, use your

— —— —
FIRST READING LESSON 89
wits to try to discover the meaning of a word before

checking your interpretation (or guess !) by referring to the
vocabulary at the end of the book, or to your dictionary.
" "
The Verb Deber
The ordinary meaning of deber is to owe :
Me debe grandes sumas de dinero = he owes me large

sums of money.
The infinitive used as a noun means duty :
Hemos hecho nuestro deber = we have done our duty.

But deber is also used, before an infinitive, as a kind of
auxiliary, to express the idea of duty, obligation or a mild
form of necessity. In this sense it is generally equivalent
to ought, should, must :
Debo ir a la estación =
I must go to the station.
Vd. debe escribirle= you should write to him.
Debía aguardarme = he was to wait for me.
Debí salir para Madrid =
I had to (was obliged to)
start for Madrid.
Deber also conveys the idea of inference, probability or

supposition, as the word must does sometimes in English :
El tren debe haber llegado = the train must have arrived.

No debe ser difícil hacerlo = it should not be difficult to
do it.
Vd. no debería hablarle = you ought not to speak to him.

Translation I
By a ruling of the Spanish Academy the use of the

written accent on words of one letter (a, 0) is abolished.
But in many books it is still retained, and the student
should bear this in mind.
" Buenos días, Señor," me dijo el dependiente al mismo
tiempo que entraba en la oficina de Turismo Español.
Mi abuelo era de Valencia y yo me parezco a él por lo
que toca a las facciones y al color de la tez. Por lo tanto
mucha gente a quien encuentro por vez primera cree que
soy español. Me gustaría muchísimo hablar bien el
español y en consecuencia no perdí la oportunidad de
emplear dicha lengua dirigiéndole la palabra.
" J En qué puedo servirle ? " continuó el dependiente.
" Buenos días/' repliqué. " Esto es lo que me trae a
mí aquí. Quiero pasar las vacaciones en España pero no
ongo de mucho tiempo."
Muy bien, Señor. Entonces lo importante es llegar
allí rápidamente/'
1
Eso es. Pero no quiero
ir en aeroplano. Es demasiado
caro."
" Qué parte de España desea visitar ? 99
¿
" En primer lugar voy a Barcelona/'
" ¿ Le gustaría ir en barco ? 99
"No. Siempre me mareo mucho. ¿No hay un tren
"
directo desde París?
94
Seguramente, Señor. El expreso sale de la estación de
Quai d Orsay a las 8.0 de la noche y llega a Barcelona poco
—
después de las 12 un viaje de diez y seis horas."
Excelente. Sin duda un billete de ida y vuelta será
'
más barato. Pero no estaré mucho tiempo en Barcelona.

Déme Vd. pues por favor un billete sencillo de segunda clase.
Pienso de la próximá semana."
salir el viernes
After you have translated the above and carefully com-

Eared your version with that given in Part II, you should
e able to do the following exercise without much difficulty.
Vocabulary
ya =
already. modo = way, method,
comercio = commerce. manner.
ejercicio = exercise. agradable =pleasant.
gracias (fern, plur.) = thanks, falta —
mistake.
Exercise 16
1. have the pleasure to introduce you to my cousin.
I
2. The pleasure is mine, but I have already met this gentle-
man. 3. Where is Mr. Gomez ? He is not here. He had
to start for Madrid at ten o'clock. 4. How many times
have you read this book? 5. We must not spend much
time here. 6. When do you think of starting for London ?
COMMON IRREGULAR VERBS 91
7. We very much like going by aeroplane ; the most

it is
pleasant way of travelling (infinitive). 8.
I do not know
what he said to me. The worst (of it) is that he does not
pronounce his words well. 9. It is evident that Mr. Lopez
is very skilful in all that concerns commerce. 10. Good
afternoon, miss. How are you ? Very well, thanks. And
you? 11. There is a young lady at the door who wants
to speak to the doctor. 12. Who is that gentleman? He
is a friend of Mr. Fuentes. 13. It is not pleasant to find
oneself alone and friendless. 14. I have taken a first-class
return ticket. 15. We were to meet them near the church,
at seven o'clock. 16. Many people tell me that I am like
my father. 17. Shall we go by boat ? I do not want to
(say : want it) because I am always seasick. 18. I do
not know how much money he owes me. 19. How many
times have you written to him ? 20. It cannot be easy to
do all these exercises without a mistake.
LESSON XVII
COMMON IRREGULAR VERBS
There are comparatively few Spanish verbs that are
irregular. Unfortunately some of the number are very
common. For that reason the most important forms of
the most widely used are given here. But do not run away
with the idea that there are an enormous number of alarm-
ingly irregular verbs. Many verbs are slightly eccentric,
but, apart from those shown below, few are fantastically
temperamental.
Irregular Future Tenses

In regular verbs the future is formed by adding -é to
the infinitive, the conditional by adding ia to the infinitive.
If the future of a verb is irregular, the conditional will have
the same irregularity. But the endings of each are all
according to rule. So, if you know the future, you also know
the conditional. Below is a complete list of irregular
Spanish futures and conditionals. There are no others.
Infinitive. Future. Conditional.
querer (to wish) querré querría
haber (to have) habré habría
tener (to have) tendré tendría
venir (to come) vendré vendría
hacer (to do, make) haré haría
decir (to say) diré diría
poder (to be able) podré podría
poner (to put) pondré pondría
saber (to know) sabré sabría
salir (to leave) saldré saldría
valer (to be worth) valdré valdría
caber (to be containable in) cabré cabría
It will be seen that the irregularity in most of these

consists merely in the suppression of the vowel of the
infinitive ending with, in some cases, the insertion of a á.
In short, nothing very alarming.
The other tense most liable to present irregularities is
the past definite. Here again some of these same verbs
are the offenders. As we shall not be using the familiar
tú and vosotros forms, they are omitted, for convenience,
from this table. Some of these tenses have already been
illustrated, but there will be no harm in reprinting them
here.
Past Definite
tener (to have) (yo) tuve (él) tuvo tuvimos tuvieron
haber (to have) hube hubo hubimos hubieron
estar (to be) estuve estuvo estuvimos estuvieron
ser (to be) fui fué fuimos fueron
ir (to go)
andar (to walk) anduve anduvo anduvimos anduvieron
venir (to come) vine vino vinimos vinieron
saber (to know) supe supo supimos supieron
ver (to see) vi vió vimos vieron
dar (to give) di dió dimos dieron
poder (to be able) pude pudo pudimos pudieron
poner (to put) puse puso pusimos pusieron
uuerer (to wish) quise quiso auisimos quisieron
aecir (to say) dije dijo dijimos dijeron
—
COMMON IRREGULAR VERBS 93
hacer (to do,

make) hice hizo hicimos hicieron
caber (to be con-
tainable in) cupe cupo cupimos cupieron
traer (to bring) traje trajo trajimos trajeron
conducir (to
lead, drive) conduje condujo condujimos condujeron
Here again there is an easily discernible pattern about
the departures from the regular. Hizo is only so spelt
because to leave the c would produce a k sound. Also i
is inadmissible in a third person plural termination after j.
Taking these into account, the extent of the irregularities
is even further reduced.
The imperfect tenses of tener, haber, estar, andar, venir,
.saber, poder, poner, decir, dar, caber, hacer, querer, traer and
conducir are all regular. That of ser {era) is already known
to us. That of if is iba, ibas, Íbamos, iban.
There remain the present tenses of a few of these common
irregular verbs :
dar doy da damos dan

ir voy va vamos van
venir vengo viene venimos vienen
hacer hago hace hacemos hacen
poder puedo puede podemos pueden
querer quiero quiere queremos quieren
decir digo dice decimos dicen
ver veo ve vemos ven
Both ir and venir are used in the present tense, as in
English, to show that something " is going " to happen in
the near future. Both, likewise, require a before a follow-
ing infinitive. " To go to see " and " to go and see "
are both translated by ir a ver.
Translation II
Llovía cuando salí de Londres. Pero en llegando a

Dover me encontré con que el tiempo había aclarado. El
sol brillaba. Hacía calor y yo estaba contento de ver que
la mar estaba tranquila. La travesía de Dover a Calais
duró solamente una hora y a eso de las seis me encontraba
:

en Paris. Como sólo pensaba estar fuera de casa quince
días,no tenía equipaje facturado, sino sólo una maleta, la
cual pasé por la ventana del vagón a un mozo. Fué a
buscar un taxi, el cual me condujo a la estación de Quai
d'Orsay. El tren no debía salir hasta las ocho, por tanto
cené en restaurant de la estación.
el
La de turismo me había reservado un asiento de
oficina
frente a la locomotora y estaba contento de encontrar,
cuando el tren salió, a sólo otro pasajero en el comparti-
mento un caballero español que me dijo que volvía
:
a Barcelona después de haber pasado tres semanas en

Francia.
Teniendo en cuenta que yo era extranjero, me hablaba
despacio y podía yo entender mucho de lo que me decía.
Como yo estaba cansado después del viaje desde Londres,
muy pronto me acosté en el asiento, la cabeza descan-
sando en una almodaha alquilada por cuatro francos a
un oficial de la Compañía de ferrocarriles. No dormí muy
bien, pero no lo sentí, y cuando desperté me encontré con
que el tren pasaba por el corazón de los Pirineos.
Exercise 17
That gentleman is the only son of Mr. Galdos whom
i.
you met yesterday. 2. On arriving at the station I will
come and see you. 3. After having read the paper I went
to my friend's house. 4. He told us what he wanted to
do. 5. He says that it will be cold to-morrow, but I do not
believe it. 6. The train will leave the station at eight
o'clock. 7. We were not talking of political matters, but of
something else. 8. I bought
car from a friend of
this
mine, who did not know (how) to drive. 9. He did not
bring me the book I wanted, but another. 10. As I was
only going as far as the church I did not take my overcoat.
11. Yesterday he did not wish to come and talk to you
to-day he is glad to do so (it). 12. He did me the favour
of lending me five pesetas. 13. We
must see you again.
14. I cannot find the suitcase you gave me. 15. Can you
not reserve us rooms which give on to the garden? 16.
He told me all that he knew of the matter. 17. Please
speak more slowly, it is impossible for me to understand
;
THE INFINITIVE 95
you. 18. I do not hired motor-cars.

like 19. Will you
come and look for my spectacles ? I cannot see well without
them. 20. He saw me; but I did not see him.
LESSON XVIII
THE INFINITIVE
One of the difficulties in French is to know how to
translate to after a verb and before another in the infinitive.
In Spanish the problem is not so acute. Many widely
used verbs take a direct infinitive i.e., with no preposition.
:
Such are, for instance poder, querer, desear, temer (to

:
fear), sentir (to feel, to regret), oir (to hear), esperar (to
hope, to expect), saber, ver, hacer, mandar necesitar deber, ,
,
servirse (to have the kindness to, " please prometer (to
promise), permitir (to allow), gustar (to like), parecer, pensar
(to think, intend) e.g., sírvase tomar asiento
: please (to)=
take a seat.
Add to these impersonal expressions formed by ser and
an adjective. Es fácil hacerlo. But es tiempo de salir
(tiempo is a noun, not an adjective).
Many expressions not used impersonálly, consisting of
estar or ser and an adjective, require de before the follow-
ing infinitive Estoy contento de verle. No soy capaz
:
(capable) de hacerlo.
In many other cases the preposition to be used can be
determined by the English :
No tardaré en venir — I will not delay in coming.
Of verbs requiring a before an infinitive the commonest

are :aprender (to learn), empezar (to begin), convidar (to
invite), enseñar (to teach), and persuadir (to persuade).
Me = he invited me to have supper.

convidó a cenar
Note also ponerse a = to begin to, to set to work to

:
also echar a = to start to echó a correr = he started to

:
run. On the other hand, dejar de correr = to leave off

running (dejar, when meaning to let, to allow, takes a
direct infinitive).
— — — ;

The verb tener is used, in many expressions,
with a noun
and de before the following infinitive :
Tener tiempo de, to have time to tener la intención d$;

t
to intend to tener la bondad de, to have the kindness to

;
tener el gusto de, to have the pleasure of tener la ocasión ;
de, to have an opportunity to; tener medios de, to have

the means to, etc. *
Note, in passing, certain expressions in which tener is

used, where the English use
M M
to be :
Tener hambre (sed), to be hungry (thirsty) = lit. to have

hunger, thirst (as in French also). Tener calor {frío), to
be hot, cold. (Hacer frío, etc., applies to the weather,
not to people.) Tener miedo (sueño), to be afraid (sleepy).
Tener razón, to be right. No tener razón, to be wrong.
Another phrase to note is tener que + infinitive. This
means " to have to " :
Tengo que hacerlo = I have to (must) do it.

Tengo muchas cosas que hacer = I have many things to do.
We have already seen that hacer is used impersonally in
expressions concerning the weather. It is also used im-
personally with regard to time :
Hace dos años que = it is two years since.

Hacía dos años que *= it was two years since.
It is six weeks since he arrived = hace (present) seis
semanas que llegó (past).
It will be six weeks to-morrow since he arrived = mañana
hará seis semanas que llegó.
In each of the above examples the " arriving " is over.
But in many sentences the action begun in the past is
still going on e.g., " we have been living here for six
:
weeks " (and still are). As the process is not yet complete,
the Spanish use the present tense, the literal translation
being :
" it makes six weeks that we live here " hace =
seis semanas que vivimos aquí. Similarly, in "we had
been living here for six weeks (when something happened),
'
the Spanish use the imperfect for the English pluperfect

and say, in effect, " it made six weeks that we were living
—
THE INFINITIVE 97
there
99
= hacía seis semanas que vivíamos allí. Of course,
in " welived there for six weeks " the construction is quite
straightforward, since the event is wholly over vivimos
:
(past definite) allí durante seis semanas. Hacer can also

be used to translate " ago "I saw him two days ago "
= le vi hace dos días (" I saw him it makes two days." Note
"
the order). But, " it is six weeks since I was in Madrid
(and I'm not there yet) =
hace seis semanas que estuve en
Madrid. Hace seis semanas que estoy en Madrid would,
of course, mean " I have been in Madrid for six weeks " (and
am still there).
Haber be used impersonally to mean " ago ",
may also
under the form ha. In such cases it always follows the
expression of time :
Poco ha = a little while ago.

As this construction is obsolete, that with hace is better.
Translation III
El dependiente de la Oficina de turismo me había dicho

que había dos rutas para Barcelona. Podía pasar la frontera
j
por Port-Bou o por Puigcerdá. Escogí la última y me
alegré de haberlo hecho. El escenario era magnífico. A
los dos lados de la vía, las montañas bañadas por los rayos
del sol que hacía poco había salido, se elevaban a gran
altura. En las cumbres había restos de nieve y arroyuelos
se deslizaban por sus lados para unir sus aguas al naciente
río, cerca de la vía del tren. El tren pasó por la pequeña
república de Andorra, la cual hasta hace poco tiempo no
tenía casi ninguna comunicación con España y Francia.
Pronto llegamos a La Tour de Carol, el último pueblo
del lado francés. Entonces el tren pasó la frontera y se
paró en la estación de Puigcerdá. Todos los pasajeros
salimos del tren y nos dirigimos a la Aduana. Un oficial
me miró el pasaporte y me revisó el equipaje. Me pre-
guntó si tenía algo que declarar. Le dije que no tenía
más que los cigarrillos que tenía en la pitillera y me per-
mitió volver al tren. Después de media hora de espera el
tren salió de la estación y poco a poco nos fuimos alejando
de las montañas. Miré el paisaje y me entretuve ano-
tando los nombres de las estaciones. El tren se paró en
muchas de ellas. El compartimento donde yo iba, estaba
ahora lleno y yo hacía cuanto podía para entender lo
que decían mis compañeros de viaje. No era muy fácil,
puesto que muchos de ellos hablaban el Catalán, que es
muy diferente del Español. Por fin el tren llegó. Entré en
un taxi y me dirigí al hotel donde había reservado una
habitación.
Vocabulary
el = judge.
juez cierre de cremallera zip =
alcalde — mayor. fastener.
traje = suit. bolsa (para tabaco) =* tobacco
el calcetín = sock. pouch.
llevar = to wear. poner la radio = to turn on the
instrumento = instrument. wireless.
reir = to laugh. ponerse (la ropa) = to put on
música = music. (clothes).
Exercise 18
What instrument of music have you learned to play?
i.
2. I have been waiting for them for two hours. 3. She
and I did as much as we could to teach him to sing. 4.
After spending six hours without eating we were very (use
mucho) hungry. 5. He invited me to have supper in his
parents' house. 6. I bought this tobacco pouch two years
ago. 7. I am very fond of music : have the goodness to
turn on the wireless. 8. He put on the suit which he had
bought from his cousin. 9. " You are wrong," said the
judge, starting to laugh. 10. We had been waiting two
hours, when the mayor entered the room. 11. I should
very much like to wear socks with zip fasteners. 12. There
they are ICan't you see them ? 13. I used to have a car,
but I sold it two weeks ago. 14. Please take a seat. They
will not be long (delay) in coming. 15. How long have
you (how much time makes it that you) been looking at
the mountains? 16. There used to be robbers in this
neighbourhood, but there aren't any (los) now. 17. We were
pleased to find that the sun was shining. 18. It is useless
to tell me that you have nothing to declare. 19. Will you
allow me to see you again ? 20. I promised to lend him
money, but I have no intention of doing it.
— — ——
INDEFINITE PRONOUNS 99
LESSON XIX
INDEFINITE PRONOUNS
alguien = somebody, nadie =nobody, not anybody,
anybody. ninguno = none, no, not any.
alguno = some, any. nada =nothing, not any-
algo =* something, anything. thing.
Of these only alguno and ninguno are variable in form.

Their feminine and plural are formed according to the
regular rule for adjectives ending in o.
Alguien, algo, nadie and nada are invariable. They
stand alone that is, they cannot be used to qualify nouns.
:
They are pronouns, not adjectives.

Alguien is used of people, not of things. It can be
preceded by aiiy preposition and, since it always refers to
people, requires the usual a before it when it is the object
of a verb :
ft Ha
ido él con alguien ? did he go with = anyone ?
Veo a alguien =
I see someone.
Algo means " something " or " anything It applies

to things, not people :
¿ Ha visto Vd. algo ?— did you see anything ?

As an adverb it means " rather " or " somewhat " :
Ella es algo habladora = she is somewhat talkative.

An adjective following it is occasionally preceded by de :
He oído algo (de) interesante = I heard something interest-

ing.
Referring to persons alguno means " some '*
any
" a few somebody
" etc., and, as direct object, requires
a before it. It may be used with or without a noun :
Busco a alguno =
I am looking for someone.
Busco a algunos amigos =
I am looking for some friends.
Alguno, used without a noun, differs from alguien in

that it denotes someone already mentioned or referred to.
With reference to things, alguno means " some ", " any
: — — — ——
loo TEACH YOURSELF SPANISH

" a few It is more definite and emphatic than unos,
".
but, like it, is liable to be omitted in Spanish, where the
English " some " or " any " would be retained :
Algunos amigos míos = some of my friends.

¿ Tiene Vd. vino ? Si, tengo = have you any wine ?
Yes, I have (some).
The negatives nadie, ninguno and nada correspond to
alguien, alguno and algo respectively.
When these words follow a verb, they require no before
the verb to make the negative complete. If they come
before a verb or are used without one, the no must be
omitted :
No veo a nadie = I see no one.

No dijo nada = he said nothing.
¿Qué ha dicho Vd.? Nada what = did you say?
Nothing.
¿ Tiene Vd. vino ? No tengo ninguno = have you any
wine ? I have none.
Alguien and algo are not used in negative sentences.
Nadie and nada replace them :
I did not say anything = no dije nada (not algo).
After sin (without) and antes de (before) nadie and nada

are likewise used instead of alguien and algo :
Sin decir nada = without saying anything.

Alguno and ninguno coming before a masculine singular
noun drop the final o :
¿ Tiene Vd. algún buen vino ? = have you any good wine ?
No tengo ningún dinero = I have no money.
but
No veo a ninguno de sus amigos = I see none of his friends.
Negatives. —As already shown, no comes before the verb

in a simple (oneword) tense and before the auxiliary in
a compound (two or more words) tense. Object pronouns
come between no and the verb. No me lo ha enviado.
Like nada and nadie, nunca (never) requires no when
—— —
INDEFINITE PRONOUNS 101
following a verb. Preceding a verb or standing without

one, it is used without no :
No gasta nunca su dinero, sino siempre el mío he =

never spends his money but always mine.
i Le ha visto Vd. jamás ? Nunca =
have you ever seen
him ? Never.
Ni means " neither " or " and not " :
No he tomado el libro de Vd, ni quiero leerlo I haven't =

taken your book, nor do I (and I do not) wish to read it.
After ni the negatives nadie, ninguno, nada must be used
for alguien, alguno and algo :
No tengo un auto, ni quiero comprar ninguno «I have

no car, nor do I wish to buy one (lit. none).
— —
" Neither nor " is expressed by ni ni. If these come
after the verb, no is required before it. If they come in
front of the verb, no is omitted, as with other negative
phrases :
No tengo ni vino ni cerveza.

Ni el hermano de Vd. ni el mío han llegado, or : no han
llegado ni el hermano de Vd. ni el mío.
Phrases such as " neither do I " are rendered in Spanish

by ni yo tampoco (lit. " nor I as little ").
Note also de ningún modo =

by no means, not at all.
Remember that the English habit of answering a question
"
with some such phrase as " Yes, I did " or " No, I didn't
is not to be copied in Spanish. If the question is " Did
you see him ? " you must make your answer either a plain
" yes " or " no ", probably accompanied by señor (or
whichever form is appropriate), or you must make a com-
plete sentence and say Sí, señor, le he visto or No, señor,
:
no le he visto. Another common affirmative is y a (already),

in such a phrase as Yes, I should think so
: y a lo creo.
I =
his fa
Translation IV
verb
re the
El hotel donde yo me hospedaba estaba situado en una
luxiliary'^
gran avenida conocida por las Ramblas, que se dirige desde
pronoi
:t
el puerto hasta una magnífica plaza llamada Plaza de
Cataluña. El proprietario hablaba francés y también un
when:
,
3 no
I02 TEACH YOURSELF SPANISH
poco de inglés, pues Barcelona es una ciudad cosmopolita,
pero le dije que me hablara español pues estaba decidido a k12. 1
mejorar el conocimiento de la lengua. Sonriendo me dijo him, i
que era una idea excelente. Entonces subí a mi habi thing tc
tación que estaba en el segundo piso, me lavé, deshice la aiijftai;
maleta y bajé al comedor. Había tomado una taza de café Since ei
antes de pasar la frontera, pero desde entonces no había

comido nada tenía pues mucha hambre. Tuve un excelente
; Did
18.
almuerzo, que consistió en entremeses, pescado, pollo tote

cocinado a la manera española, ensalada, queso y frutas Bynoi
Yo de vinos no entiendo mucho, y le dije al camarero que
me trajera una botella de vino blanco de marca recomen-
dable. Y en efecto, era admirable.
Después de comer descansé un rato en mi habitación. Y
salí después para ver algo de la ciudad. Entré primero en
una librería donde compré una guía de Barcelona con un The
mapa. Estudiando el plano, me sorprendió el ver que gran
parte de la ciudad es de tipo moderno, las calles se alargan
en líneas rectas como las de una ciudad de los Estados md¡
Unidos.
La parte en que yo me encontraba era el barrio más
antiguo de Barcelona y contenía muchos pintorescos edi
ficios e iglesias. Me dirigí primero a lo largo de las Ramblas
hacia el puerto, dominado por una gigantesca estatua de mtajrei
Cristobal Colón.
A poca distancia estaba un barco correo que debía salir
aquella noche para Mallorca (Islas Baleares). Había
también otros muchos barcos, pues Barcelona es uno de los
puertos más importantes de España.
Exercise 19 «witliti
9
maidservant to bring down the suitcase. ¡a
still
i. I will tell the

2. He went out of the room without saying anything. 3. Is
there anything new in the paper? 4. When I looked out
of (por) the window there was someone in the garden.
5. Neither she nor her sister knows (how) to swim (nadar). Rep
6. I will lend you this book, I have many others in my
library. 7. If you will (are willing to) wait a little while, *pia
I will tell Mr. Gutierrez that you are here. 8. I have fing
thi
nothing to say to you. 9. I did not know what he wanted

to do. Neither did 9he. 10. We have no friends in this
— —
THE PASSIVE VOICE 103
city: which is a pity. 11. I will never speak to you again.

12. I have never met that gentleman nor do I wish to know
him. 13. Before leaving for London, did he not say any-
thing to you? 14. Is there anyone there? I cannot see
anybody. 15. How long have you been looking for him?
Since eight o'clock. 16. We shall have to buy a little
coffee. 17. Few men speak more than two languages.
18. Did you meet anyone ? Yes, three gentlemen. 19. My
brother never writes to anybody. 20. Wasn't she afraid ?
By no means.
LESSON XX
THE PASSIVE VOICE
The passive voice most commonly indicates that an
"
action has been completed there is no further " action
:
to expect. It is formed by any tense of ser followed by the

past participle of the verb in question. The participle
agrees with the subject as though it were an adjective :
They are married = ellos son casados.

Remember that a past participle used with haber does
not agree.
Ella se ha cortado lamano = she has cut her hand.
But in a compound passive tense the participle still
agrees with the subject. There may be a part of haber in
che tense, but there will also be a part of ser. Había sido,
for instance, together forms a tense of ser, not of haber, and
50 with the addition of another past participle the auxiliary
is still ser rather than haber. This sounds involved, but is
easily made plain by example :
Los caballos han sido vendidos — the horses have been

sold.
The point is that the horses were sold ; the part of haber
s merely an accessory helping to indicate when the selling
:00k place. The whole tense is passive, not active, ser
)eing the essential, haber only helping to form a particular
:ense of it. In passives the word " by " frequently occurs
:o indicate the doer of the action, or, in one word, the agent.
— —— — ,
i<M TEACH YOURSELF SPANISH

If the action is material or physical, " by 99
is translated by avoid a
Por. If mental due to a process of thought

i.e., 01
emotion — it is often rendered by de :
"one
El pajaro fué muerto por el muchacho = the bird v

killed by the boy.
El oficial era aborrecido de los soldados = the officer was How i
detested by the soldiers.

if
Actually, however, the passive is avoided in Spanish
whenever possible. Each of these two sentences would
better be rendered in the active with the agents a&
subjects :
roeaisi
El muchacho mató el pájaro. Los soldados aborrecieron ai
fco = f
oficial.
an
Remember, in passing, that the past participle with bytte

estar is purely adjectival. It conveys no idea of action, but M\
only one of state :
active,
La puerta está, abierta = the door is open (state). reki
La puerta es abierta = the door is opened (action). C25f W¡
iisenei
But we have just made the point that the passive is
94 kirn
avoided whenever possible. If the sentence were the
•ere"
door is opened by John ", we can turn the whole thing into l
the active and write Juan abre la puerta. How are we

:
ought tc
enough]
to avoid the passive, however, if the doer of the action is
unknown? The answer is that the reflexive verb abrirse Joorcai
is used, and we put

mdersti
se abre la puerta.
: Literally this
means " the door opens itself But as doors do not would b<
behave so energetically of their own accord (except in t
haunted houses or when the latch is faulty), there is no

possibility of the expression being misunderstood. So se
abre la puerta is the correct way of saying " the door is
opened , when we do not know who is actually doing it.
We use this same construction for a large number of Soft
expressions that in English are impersonal passive. For it rot
instance " it is said that 99 11 it is forbidden to go in

:
1
We do not know who is doing the talking or the forbidding, needed
and we avoid the passive by the reflexive, putting se dies :

"jects
and se prohibe entrar (or la entrada). Again 94 that is not :

actinj
done this way " =

eso no se hace de este modo. must m
These reflexive forms are also used when the English
avoid a passive by using some such indefinite subject as

* one ", " they " you " people, etc. (the French on).
" What is one to do? " or " What is to be done? " is
changed, for example, into What must itself to do? *{
:
¿ qué se debe hacer ?

How does one get into the palace ? = ¿ cómo se entra en
el palacio ?
Similarly, a Spanish shopkeeper, anxious to inform
tourists that English was spoken in his establishment,
would write on his notice Aquí se habla inglés (lit. English
:
speaks itself here). So with others se necesita un manda-

:
dero = errand boy (is) wanted.

As an earlier example we said that " the bird was killed
by the boy " should be turned into " the boy killed the
bird the agent in the passive becoming the subject in the
active. If the agent was unspecified, we said that the
reflexive should be used. But this will not meet every
case without modification. For " the king was killed by
his enemies ", we might put (actively) los enemigos del rey
le mataron. Now, according to our rule, if the sentence
were " the king was killed no agent being specified, we
ought to put se mató el rey. This turn of phrase was well
:
enough for a door, but it will not do for a human being. A

door cannot open itself, so there was no possibility of mis-
understanding, but a man can kill himself, and se mató el rey
would be far more likely to mean " the king killed himself
than " the king was killed Clearly some other phrase is
needed. We
can still use the reflexive and put the equi-
valent of "it was killed to the king translating " it was
killed " by se mató, just as " it is said " became se dice.
Thus the whole phrase is se mató al rey.
Similarly "he was robbed of all his money " becomes
:
" it robbed itself to him of all his money " =

se le robó
todo su dinero. It follows that this construction is only
needed with living beings, not with things. Inanimate
sbjects are (with apologies to eminent scientists) incapable
dí acting for themslves. For instance se revisó la maleta
:
must unmistakably mean " the suitcase was examined

[t cannot be interpreted as meaning " the suitcase examined
itself for even the most gifted piece of luggage is incapable
—
io6 TEACH YOURSELF SPANISH

of doing more than falling off the rack on to your head, an<
then through the jolting of the train rather than by it
own malevolent activity. But " the judge was seen
would be se vió al juez, since se vió el juez would mean " th
judge saw himself
It is important to remember that many verbs use<
without an object in English require one in Spanish
Acostar, for instance, means " to put (someone) to bed
It cannot mean " to go to bed For this we have to say
as it were, " to put oneself to bed " acostarse. =
Similarl;
llamar = to call someone, llamarse =
to be called (lit. t
call oneself). There are other cases where the need for th
reflexive is not obvious to the English-speaking person, bu
essential in Spanish. Some common verbs of this type are
pasearse, to go for a walk sentarse, to sit down
;
enojarse ;
to grow angry; engañarse, to be deceived or mistaken

Most of these can, of course, be used as ordinary transitive
verbs, as well as reflexives. Compare :
Creo que él me engaña = I think he is deceiving me.

Creo que él se engaña = I think he is making a mistake.
Creo que se le engaña — I think he is being deceived.
In the last we have the reflexive being used for th<
passive i.e., " it is deceived to him
: though there is n(
exact translation in English of this turn of phrase.
This formation of passives is so unlike the Englisl
practice that you will find it a little odd. But a glance ai
a Spanish book or paper will show you how very frequentl}
it is used. Nor, when you have mastered the principle
will you find it difficult to deal with.
Translation V
Habiendo consultado mi plano, me dirigí a la Plaza di
Toros. En esta época del año no había corridas de toros
y aunque hubiera habido, no estoy seguro de que hubiera idc
a ver ninguna. Pero me interesaba mucho ver la arena. Ur
portero a quien le di una peseta de propina me permitid
entrar. Lo que más me sorprendió fué la pequeña ex
tensión del lugar. El círculo no tenía mucho más que 6c
yardas de diámetro. Retratos de famosos toreros adorna
ban las paredes y el programa de la última fiesta me
^ demostraba que habían sido lidiados (muertos) seis toros

¡ t¡
durante la corrida de la tarde. Yo pienso que es un
deporte cruel, pero lo mismo son las cacerías de zorros y
ambos se distinguen por la habilidad y valentía. Además
nadie puede juzgar una cosa sin haberla visto. El exterior
verbs era muy hermoso. El edificio era de ladrillo rojo con dos
torres estilo morisco.
El paseo me había fatigado y me senté en una de las mesas
Lave to
say
de la parte de fuera de un café. Pedí un vaso de cerveza y
Similarly
no había comenzado aún, cuando un limpia-botas se acercó
lied (it,
tt y empezó a limpiarme los zapatos. Se fijó en que uno de
eedforft
mis tacones estaba usado y antes que tuviera tiempo de pro-
person, tal
testar lo había quitado y estaba preparando otro para
is type are
ponérmelo. Esto lo hizo en menos de cinco minutos. Me
i; mjmt
divertió mucho todo ello y le pagué las treinta pesetas que
r mistaken,
me pidió. Compré también una corbata a un vendedor
y transitive
que recorría los cafés. Creí encontrar las calles llenas de
mendigos pero no había ninguno, y las calles estaban tan
limpias como las de cualquiera de las ciudades en que estuve
fine,
antes. Comencé a pensar que muchas de las ideas que tenía
a mistake.
acerca de España eran falsas. Ni tampoco encontré, a
iceived.
pesar del pobre conocimiento que yo tenía de la lengua,
sed for the
a nadie que dejara de hacer lo posible para contestar a las
: there is no preguntas que le hacía.
ase.
Por fin miré a mi reloj de pulsera y pensé que sería mejor
le English
volver al hotel para cenar.
a glance at
Vocabulary
ffreqi
arrojar= to throw. estimar= to respect.
ie principle,
bosque = wood. oscuro= dark.

creer = to think, believe.
Exercise 20
1. We never understand the questions the professor puts
to us. 2. Having finished his work he went to bed shortly
after 10. 3. This gentleman isrespected by all those who
know him. 4. Every three days he used to invite me to
&• come and see him. 5. I am not sure if I shall have the
jequena
60 opportunity to speak to them. 6. I was walking through

más que
the old quarter of the city looking for a bookshop. 7. I
fiesta
* thought I was right, but it is evident that I was mistaken.
ia
io8 TEACH YOURSELF SPANISH
8. Before sitting down he took off his hat. 9. Books and
newspapers are sold here. 10. It is well known that it is
I who have set fire to the house. 11. This poor child the advi
was thrown through the window. 12. They hid them

selves because they were afraid. 13. They were hidden V
(by someone unknown) in the darkest part of the wood sdcIwoi
14. We were tired when we arrived. 15. I think the train nright b
is going to stop. 16. Please call the police, they have mouthful
robbed me. 17. Let us sit down awhile, I am very hot. So

am I (and I also). 18. It is very warm at this period of
the year. 19. Have they seen the judge ? Nobody knows
where he is. 20. He told me that they have not written
the letters. •ases:
fl«0Jf(
LESSON XXI When
ADVERBS in raptó
the otl
Many adverbs are formed in Spanish from adjectives

and past participles by the addition of mente, equivalent to
the English ly. This mente comes from the Latin mens, 1m¡ t
meaning "manner ". Thus nuevo (adjective) becomes nueva-

mente (adverb), meaning "newly", literally, "in a new
manner the of nuevo becoming a, since mens in Latin
is feminine. So adjectives ending in and past participles An ad'
(which all end in 0) may be turned into adverbs by adding

mente to the feminine singular form. Thus perfectamente L)y, jj
(perfectly), decididamente (decidedly). m¿

This applies also to adjectives having no distinction in I mm
form between the masculine and feminine singular | portr :
'
felizmente (happily) fácilmente (easily).

,
It is to be noted that adverbs formed by the addition of

mente are pronounced as two words, both the adjective and
the mente portions retaining their original accent, whether
written or spoken : cortés (courteous, polite), cortesmente
(politely). too a]
Adjectives which do not end in 0, but which yet have a L Ve J

distinctive feminine form, cannot add mente. The adverb |^
effect is supplied instead by using the phrase de una tnanera ^
^ ra
%(l e
Í" in a manner ") and adding the adjective, making it
leininine to agree with manera. Inquisitively «= de una L s
manera preguntona (not preguntonamente).

ADVERBS 109
In the same way, where the addition of mente is per-

missible, but would result in a very long or clumsy sound,
:he adverb is not used, but a noun substituted preceded
)y con, just as we often put
" with ease " instead of
'
easily and invariably " with difficulty " instead of any
,
>uch word as difficultly. For instance, "independently"

night be independientemente. But this is a terrible
nouthful, and con independencia would be much more
ilegant. Similarly con paciencia instead of pacientemente,
md con orgullo instead of orgullosamente etc. }
De un modo or de una manera, plus an adjective, or two

idjectives, will also often help to avoid ugly sounding
phrases : e.g., silently and swiftly =
de un modo silen-
cioso y rápido.
When several adverbs modify the same word and occur
n rapid succession, only the last actually takes the mente,
he others assuming the ending they would have were
nente tacked on to them Habla clara y enfáticamente
: he =
»peaks clearly and emphatically; or habla de una manera
iara y enfática or, again, habla claramente y con énfasis.
;
ifou have therefore various possibilities open to you. The

jreat thing to aim at is the avoidance of a jingle of unpleasing
;ounds.
An adverb may modify an adjective. In this case it
:omes before the adjective extremadamente feo
: extremely =
lgly. If it modifies a verb, the adverb usually comes
mmediately after the verb mira atentamente el retrato,
:
>r, mira con atención el retrato —

he looks attentively at
he portrait.
In compound tenses the adverb follows the past participle
n Spanish. It cannot come between the auxiliary and the
>articiple as it often does in English I have often read
:
his book =
he leído a menudo este libro.
Mejor and peor are the comparatives of the adjectives
meno and malo. They are also the comparatives of the
idverbs bien and mal. Adverbs, otherwise, form their com-
bative, as do adjectives, by the insertion of más (more) or
nenos (less) before them más rápidamente, menos claramente.
:
With adverbial expressions made up of con and a noun

nás (menos) comes before the noun con más (menos)
:
liligencia = more (less) diligently.

. —— — —
no TEACH YOURSELF SPANISH

W ith adverbs proper there is no distinction between
comparative and superlative. Adjectives put the definite
article or a possessive before the comparative to obtain the
superlative, but adverbs (single words, not, of course,
con + noun phrases) make no change :
más aprisa.
Fastest (ad verb] =»
He had worked most diligently «
había trabajado más
diligentemente. Or, of course con la mayor dili-
:
gencia {la inserted because mayor is an adjective, not

an adverb).
The word " fast " is, in English, either an adjective (a fait
train) or an adverb (he runs fast). In Spanish likewise
there are certain words which are sometimes adjectives and
sometimes adverbs :
alto = high, tall (adj.) aloud (adverb).

;
claro = clear (adj.) clearly (adverb).

;
temprano = early (adj.) early (adverb). ;
Note also the following adverbial phrases :
De vez en cuando — from time to time.

A más tardar = at the latest.
Cuanto antes = as soon as possible.
A más no poder = with all one's might.
De propósito = on purpose.
Hasta mañana =» good-bye until to-morrow (lit. until
to-morrow)
Hasta luego = good-bye for the moment (until shortly).
Changes of Spelling in the Inflection of

Certain Verbs
The introductory lesson showed that the pronunciation ftivo
of certain letters c and g, for example varies according—

to the vowel that follows. We must bear this in mind in Pve i
dealing with certain verbs. The present of hablar is fcnpc
hablo, the past definite hablé. But what of tocar? The 1
^padeje;
present is toco but if we write tocé for the past definite, we

t
las
fian
shall not get a k sound but a th sound for the c. This I

ísan^
would alter the pronunciation altogether. Obviously the 1
mita
hard sound will have to be retained throughout so, to ; V

J
preserve the sound, we alter the spelling and put toqué.

:
ADVERBS in
^ween This does not mean that the verb is irregular at all. It
definite is merely a modification made necessary, to preserve the
J
btain the
" hard '
sound, by the Spanish rules of pronunciation.
f
course, Followed by a, o, or u, both c and g have the hard sound,
seen in the English words " cat " and " gate
Before e and i they change their pronunciation (as does
the English c in " centre " or " city "). From this fact
we can easily make a rule.
Verbs whose infinitives end in car or gar change the c
and g to qu and gu respectively before e.
Past Def. . . toqué (tocaste) tocó tocamos tocaron
Pres. Subj. . toque (toques) toque toquemos toquen
Past Def. . . pagué (pagaste) pagó pagamos pagaron
Pres. Subj. . pague (pagues) pague paguemos paguen
Likewise, though the reasons (to the ear) for the change
ire less obvious, verbs in zar change z into c before e
ücanzar (to attain, reach), rezar (to pray).
Translation VI
En muchos lugares de España hace mucho calor muy
l menudo. Por esta razón durante el mediodía se cierran
as tiendas y la gente permanece en casa dos horas poco
nás o menos. Para rehacerse de esta perdida de tiempo,
flit, nni continúan el trabajo hasta más tarde de lo que se acostumbra
ai Inglaterra y cenan en lugar de a las siete, a las ocho o más
il shortly)^ arde. Por tanto las representaciones en los teatros no

:omienzan hasta las nueve y mucha gente se va a la cama
ON OF
media noche.
íespués de
Barcelona es una ciudad comercial y sus habitantes son
ictivos trabajadores. Allí nunca hace mucho calor. Sin
;mbargo me encontré con que la cena en los restoranes, se
a acc
drve raramente antes de las ocho. Tuve pues mucho
linn
iempo antes de cenar y me senté en un café para tomar una
Wtarjj
)f
;opa de Jerez.
w«
Las Ramblas son una gran avenida a cuyos dos lados
definite,
>asan los tranvías. En el largo paseo que se extiende por
thee nj
a mitad, hay kioscos donde se pueden comprar perió-
bvíoüslytM
licos, flores y tabaco. Me divertió el ver que también
e vendían loros. Yo observaba todo esto con el mayor
I 12 TEACH YOURSELF SPANISH
interés, mientras los habitantes, terminado su trabajo,
paseaban arriba y abajo, riendo y hablando.
Mi habitación en el hotel daba a esta calle, que todavía,
cuando me acosté, estaba llena de gente. Pero el ruido no
me molestaba, y dormí bien. A la mañana siguiente, los
cantos de los gallos me despertaron; al parecer mucha
gente los tiene en los tejados y en los balcones de sus casas.
Me vestí rápidamente y tomé el desayuno. Leí los
periódicos durante unos minutos y pensando cómo iba a
pasar el día, decidí ir por tren a Sitges, un pueblecito en la
costa, no lejos de Barcelona. Después de Sitges pensé
visitar Tarragona, una de las ciudades más antiguas de
España.
Vocabulary
entregar = to deliver, hand amo = master, " boss
over. pegar = to beat, thrash.
explicar = to explain. conducir = to drive.
pintor = painter. asegurarse (de) = to make
cuidado = care. sure (of).
correcto = correct.
Exercise 21
i. Do not touch that ! You will break it and you will
have to pay for it. arrived home without seeing any-
2. I
body. 3. Do not beat the poor boy. He has worked with
all his might. 4. Deliver the letter to him as soon as
possible. 5. You should (must) drive more carefully.
6. He has only been learning Spanish for six months, but
he writes it clearly and correctly. 7. From time to time
I looked out of the window to make sure that he was still
there. 8. Do not speak so fast. No one can understand
you. 9. The trams passed on both sides of the avenue
which extended from the river to the station. 10. Some-
times it is very hot in this city and one has to stay indoors.
11. The servant was waiting patiently for his master.
12. Many people were looking admiringly at the works of
the famous painter. 13. On arriving at Madrid, I explained
to my parents that it had not been possible for me to return
earlier. 14. Nevertheless, I found that it was not easy for
me to make up for this loss of time. 15. He has lost most
ORTHOGRAPHIC CHANGES IN VERBS 113
money. 16. Of all these books the

(the greater part) of his
one I like most
that one.
is 17. You will have to dress
quickly in order not to miss the train. 18. Walking along
the avenue, I was thinking how I was going to spend the
morning. 19. Silently I approached (acercarse a) the house
where the thieves had concealed themselves. 20. After
spending two years in a boarding-house, we decided to
set up house in Burgos. 21. One must work diligently to
earn one's living.
LESSON XXII
ORTHOGRAPHIC CHANGES IN VERBS
Other types of verb, in addition to those mentioned in
the previous lesson, make changes of spelling in certain
forms. These, likewise, do not amount to irregularities
and are easily grasped.
Verbs in -ger and -gir change g into j before and a e.g., :
escoger, to choose dirigir, to direct.

;
Pres. Ind. escojo escoge escogemos escogen.

dirijo dirige dirigimos dirigen.
Pres. Subj. escoja escoja escojamos escojan.
dirija dirija dirijamos dirijan.
The reason for this change is obvious, since g has a dif-

ferent sound when followed by e or i from what it has when
followed by a or 0, so, to keep the sound of the verb con-
sistent throughout, the change from g toj becomes necessary.
This simple fact realised, the verbs present no difficulty.
Verbs in -cer (or -cir) preceded by a consonant change c -
into z before and a e.g., veneer, to conquer.

:
Pres Ind. venzo vence vencemos vencen.

PresSubj. venza venza venzamos venzan.
Verbs in -cer or -ár preceded by a vowel insert z before
the c when followed by or a e.g., parecer, to appear;
:
lucir, shine.
Pres. Ind. parezco parece parecemos parecen,

luzco luce lucimos lucen,
Pres Subj parezca
. . parezca parezcamos parezcan,
luzca luzca luzcamos luzcan.
ii4 TEACH YOURSELF SPANISH
By verbs in -ducir (conducir, etc.), besides
exception,
making the above changes, alter the c of their stem into j
in the past definite (and in tenses derived from it imperfect, :
future and conditional subjunctive). The endings of the

past definite of conducir, etc., are irregular conduje (not Í), :
tivelv,
condujo (not ió), condujimos, condujeron (not ieron). This For ex,
is ratner similar to the same tense of decir (dije, dijo, etc.).

There follow three further instances of orthographical Efl/fl
changes which are not of such frequent occurrence, but an
which must be put on record. Lm

Verbs in -guir and -quir drop the u in favour of plain g and
)bn
c before o and a e.g., distinguir, to distinguish; delinquir,
:
to sin, transgress. ir=
Uf
Pres. Ind. distingo distingue distinguimos distinguen.
delinco delinque delinquimos delinquen.
Pres. Subj. distinga distinga distingamos distingan.
delinca delinca delincamos delincan.
We have seen that such verbs as pagar take the form J¡Z ,
'
pagué (pronounced Pag-ay) in the past definite. Verbs in ani
guar (pronounced goo-ar) require the diaeresis over the u rim

before an e to prevent the two letters from being merged
mna
into one sound, as in pagué e.g., averiguar, to ascertain.
:
Past Def. averigüé (goo-áy) averiguaron.

Pres. Subj. averigüe averigüemos averigüen.
weoftl
An unaccented i coming between two vowels is changed
into^y e.g., leer.
: He read = leyó, but : he was reading m
leía (i accented). Similarly caer = to fall. I fell —
caí he fell
; cayó. =
Imperfect subjunctives, leyera, cayera, etc.
Reciprocal Verbs
It has been shown that a reflexive verb is one in which The S
both the subject and the object of the verb refer to the same
person or thing yo me encontré
: =
I found myself. We
—
know, too this as a passing reminder that many verbs — tteohj
intransitive (*.*., used without an object) in English, are
So
not so in Spanish, the Spaniard getting over the difficulty the i
by using a reflexive verb, the object pronoun being un-

translated in English. We can say " the train stopped I
:
—
But the verb parar is transitive, and must have an object,

so the Spaniard says : el tren se paró (literally, the train
stopped itself).
Occasionally a verb has one meaning when used transi-
tively, and a slightly different one when used reflexively.
For example :
Enfadar = to anger (someone) ; enfadarse = to get.

annoyed.
Levantar = to lift (something) up ; levantarse = to get
Morir =
to die morirse to be dying.
; =
Ir =
to go irse to go away.
; =
Reir =
to laugh reírse (de alguno) to laugh at someone.
; =
A few verbs can be used with or without the reflexive
pronoun without difference of meaning e.g., quedar or :
quedarse =
to remain.
But there is another use of reflexive verbs. When two
people meet and talk, the probability is that they talk to
one another, and not to themselves. Se hablan, therefore,
will mean " they talk to one another
: Similarly se
vieron might mean " they saw themselves " (perhaps in a
:
looking-glass). But the obvious meaning is that they saw

each other. Verbs with this meaning of mutual action are
called reciprocal, and this, apparently, is but an enlarged
ase of the reflexive. But what about se felicitaron ? As a
reflexive, this means " they congratulated themselves '\
:
But it might also mean " they congratulated each other '\ :
Both meanings are perfectly sensible. It follows, then,

that where the meaning is not unmistakably reciprocal, we
shall have to find means to show that the ordinary reflexive
meaning is not intended.
The Spanish make this distinction by adding suitable
forms of uno and otro, and say, in effect, " they congratu-
ated themselves the one the other In other words,
u
:he one congratulated the other. The other " is thus
:he object of the verb, and therefore requires a before it.
So the sentence runs se felicitaron el uno al otro.
: If they
fficdi
¿veré women, not men, we should, of course, put la una a
jen a otra. If four or more were concerned, with some males
imong them, we should use the masculine plural, and put
lió TEACH YOURSELF SPANISH
los unos a los otros. This usage is not necessary if the re- Al nn v
ciprocal, not the reflexive, meaning is the only one that

makes sense. Another possible way of doing it would be to
put : mutuamente (mutually).
se felicitaron
Note phrase " to have just". For this the
finally the
verb acabar, to finish, is used " I have just seen him "
:
is turned into " I finish from seeing him " = acabo de verle. mi
Similarly, " I had just seen him " = acababa de verle. m
The point to remember
that the second verb is in the
is
infinitive in Spanish, though the past participle is required
in English.
Translation VII ill
Sitges no es un pueblo grande.

Se encuentra solamente iranjue,
a cuarenta kilómetros de Barcelona; es decir, aproximada- notah;

mente veinticinco millas, y el viaje por tren no dura más de 4.D01
tres cuartos de hora. anyttii
Cuando llegué allí, me dirigí por una estrecha calle, a lo

largo de la cual se alineaban pintorescas casas, a un paseo e ™
adornado con palmeras. Pequeños barcos de pesca pintados
de rojo yacían en la arena, que se extendía en una mag- le- ¡
nifica curva a dos millas de distancia. El mar era de un azul r: I(
profundo y mucha gente se estaba bañando. ?

Séen
Aquello era muy agradable, pero no quedé mucho

tiempo, pues este pueblecito era uno de los muchos que se
pueden encontrar en la costa mediterránea, y yo ansiaba
ver cuanto podía de las históricas ciudades de España.
Así pues, volví a la estación y tomé el siguiente tren para
Tarragona, que se halla a sesenta millas de Barcelona. The
En el puerto había varios barcos mercantes. Los ooking j
examiné un poco y me dirigí a la calle que conduce a la o the ni
parte más antigua de la ciudad, encontrándome a poca

distancia un pequeño parque con naranjos y pequeñas teC
paredes con tejas de colores. A un lado vi una gran línea
de montañas. Al otro lado se extendían enormes murallas,
las cuales datan del tiempo de los Romanos, quienes
hicieron de esta ciudad su primera posesión en España.
Se veía que los habitantes no estaban acostumbrados a
visitas de turistas, pues me miraban extrañados cuando
pasaba a lo largo de las calles. Pero no presté atención a
esto, pues mi interés por todo lo que veía era muy grande.
M fin vi con gran pena que había llegado la hora de bajar

la cuesta que conduce a la estación y volver a Barcelona.
Vocabulary
obedecer= to obey. extinguir, apagar = to put
lámpara = lamp. out, extinguish.
muelle = quay. luz =» the light.
norte = north. coger un resfriado = to catch
a cold.
Exercise 22
1.have known this gentleman for a long time. 2.
I
\ranjuez is only about 40 kilometres from Madrid. 3. I do
lot always obey the " boss which makes him very angry,
j..Do not put out that lamp. I shall not be able to see
inything. 5. While I was reading, the light went out.
). Do you like that carpet? I have just bought it. 7.
Where did you buy it ? At Fernandez* shop. 8. All the
passengers had gone to bed when the steamer put to sea.
). He believed that we had gone away in order to annoy
íiim. 10. I had just returned, from Bilbao when you came
:o see me. 11. Finding himself near the harbour he made
lis way
along the quay. 12. I will ask (beg) him to choose
ne (that hemay choose me) an interesting book. 13. Don't
ron see him? He is making his way along the street,
ok. The servant led me to a room on the second floor.
Whom were you laughing at? At John's brother.

6. The two robbers killed one another. 17. We were all
ooking at one another wonderingly. 18. Going by train
o the north of Spain I always catch a cold. 19. I shall
emain here until about six o'clock. 20. No, I have not
een Charles. I think he is getting up.
rajados crf
jrsstíatencito
—
ii8 TEACH YOURSELF SPANISH
LESSON XXIII
THE NUMERALS
Cardinal Numbers
0. cero. 21. veinte y uno.
I. uno (un), una. 22. veinte y dos.
2. dos. 23. veinte y tres.
3- tre9. 24. veinte y cuatro.
4- cuatro. 30. treinta.
5. cinco. 31- treinta y uno.
6. seis. 40. cuarenta.
7- siete. 4i. cuarenta y uno.
8. ocho. 50. cincuenta.
9. nueve. 60. sesenta.
10. diez. 70. setenta.
11. once. 80. ochenta.
12. doce. 90. noventa.
13. trece. 100. ciento (cien).
14. catorce. 101. ciento uno.
15- quince. 102. ciento dos.
16. diez y seis. 200. doscientos.
17. diez y siete. 300. trescientos.
18. diez y ocho. 500. quinientos.
19. diez y nueve. 700. setecientos.
20. veinte. 900. novecientos.
1000. mil.
The following points are to be noted :
1. Numbers from 17 to 29 are very often written in the

contracted form dieciseis, diecinueve, veintidós, etc. But
from 31 to 99 inclusive the orthodox long form is preferred :
treinta y uno, setenta y seis, etc.

'
500, 700 and 900 are irregular quinientos (not
:
cincocientos) , setecientos (not sietecientos), novecientos (not

nuevecientos) . 200, 300, 400, 600, 800 are regular seiscientos
:
etc.
3. The cardinal numbers are all invariable, except uno,
the compounds of ciento, and millón (a million), which is,
:
THE NUMERALS 119
regarded as a noun and is followed by the preposition de

before a noun or pronoun.
4. Uno, identical with the indefinite article, agrees with
the noun to which it refers, dropping the when preceding
1 masculine noun Un perro. Veinte y un (veintiún)
:
toldados. Cincuenta y una vacas.

5. Ciento drops the -to before a noun or before mil. When
T0U0 wed by smaller numerals ciento must be written in full
Zien buenos caballos. Cien casas. Cien mil libras esterlinas
[¿100,000), but ciento cuarenta botellas.
:
The multiples of ciento agree in gender and number with

;he nouns to which they refer Doscientos barcos. Sete-
:
cientas mujeres.
6. In the formation of compound numbers y (and) couples
:he last two, provided that the last number is less than
.en. Elsewhere y is not used 75, setenta y cinco. 240,
:
loscientos cuarenta (40 is more than 10, so y is omitted).

5,367, ocho mil trescientos sesenta y siete.
7. In English we say nineteen hundred or one thousand
line hundred. In Spanish counting in hundreds ceases
it 900. Thereafter mil (invariable) is used 1783 mil : =
Pecientos ochenta y tres.
8. Un is never used before ciento or mil except when

nisunderstanding might arise. A hundred is simply
iento (cien). But 201,000 is dos cientos y un mil, because
los cientos mil would mean 200,000.
9. Ciento and mil can take a plural form when used as

.oílective nouns, e.g. :
—
Some hundreds of miles = algunos cientos de millas.
Many thousands of books = muchos miles de libros.
Unas cien millas would mean "some (about a) hundred
niles".
The four seasons are : la primavera (spring), el verano

summer), el otoño (autumn), el invierno (winter).
The days week are el domingo (Sunday), el
of the :
mes (Monday), martes (Tuesday), el miércoles (Wednes-

el
lay), el jueves (Thursday), el viernes (Friday), el sábado
Saturday).
— — — —
I20 TEACH YOURSELF SPANISH
Months of the year :
January, enero. July, julio.

February, febrero. August, agosto.
March, marzo. September, septiembre.
April, abril. October, octubre.
May, mayo. November, noviembre.
June, junio. December, diciembre.
"
noon
Note that days of the week and months of the year,
litóte'
except when at the beginning of a sentence, are written
in Spanish with a small letter
The days of the week require the definite article, except
in the dating of letters, etc. :
El domingo es día de descanso = Sunday is a day of rest for la
Hasta el sábado = until Saturday.

The preposition on, so frequent in English before dayj
of the week, is not translated in Spanish :
lodetes
I will visit you on Monday = le visitaré a Vd. el lunes.

I do not work on Sundays = no trabajo los domingos.
^
laucas
Dates (
What day of the month is it ? = ¿ a cuántos estamos ? Coraos,
(lit. at how much are we?). The answer will, therefore, Der
normally begin estamos a (we are at), equivalent to

:
English :
" It is the " "Tresj
Cardinal numbers are used in Spanish for the dates of Compré
the month, except for the first, when the ordinal {primero) Ai.
is used. The definite article comes before the numeral, ft

Después
But in dating letters the article is omitted. If the month Era muy
and year are expressed, they are linked up with the date k una
by the preposition de :
— xelona
si
Madrid, 4 de agosto de 1038 (letter-heading), but R ivo
primero de febrero = (on) the first of February.

: si
A
m
la ib
El veintidós de julio de mil novecientos treinta y siete
July 22nd, 1937.
If the month is not stated, it is usual to insert día before
¿ C
the numeral :
We shall start on the 12th «= partiremos el día doce. Hktu

THE NUMERALS 121
Some Useful Expressions of Time

ayer =
yesterday.
anteayer =
the day before yesterday.
mañana == to-morrow.
pasado mañana = the day after to-morrow.
ijft,
ayer por la mañana [tarde) = yesterday morning (after-
noon).
[tarde) = to-morrow morning
\ the year,
ire
mañana por la mañana
written
(afternoon).
anoche = last night.
al anochecer = at dusk.
por la mañana [tarde) 1 = in the morning (evening),
k oí rest, por la mañana temprano = early in the morning.
Translation VIII
A algunas personas les entusiasma escribir cartas. Yo

lo detesto, especialmente cuando estoy en vacaciones. Pero
pesar de todo debía comunicar a mis padres cómo
ne encontraba. Compré pues antes de salir de Tarragona
ilgunas tarjetas postales. Cuando se necesitan sellos en
España es muy raro que se tenga que ir a la oficina de
Correos. Se pueden comprar en los cafés y hoteles.
;, therefon, De regreso a Barcelona le pregunté al proprietario del
ilent to the
íotel lo que costaba enviar una postal a Inglaterra.
" Tres pesetas cincuenta céntimos/' me respondió.
- dates of
Compré una docena de sellos del valor requerido y
ápidamente escribí unas cuantas postales.
Después encendí un cigarrillo y comencé a hacer planes.
•
)Gtl
Ii'themoi"
ira muy agradable estar en Barcelona, pero en el término
Le una semana debía volver a Inglaterra. Sabía que
ithedatl
Barcelona no era una ciudad como las del resto de España,
f
como yo quería ver tantos aspectos del país como pudiese,
esolví ir a Madrid.
i of
February. A la mañana siguiente fui a la oficina de turismo del
'aseo de Gracia y oí al dependiente recomendar a una
¡nciana señora ir a Madrid en avión.
" Tengo mucho miedo," decía ella.
1*1
1 La madrugada = midnight to sunrise ; la mañana (sunrise to
oon) ; la tarde (noon to sunset) la noche
; (strictly, until midnight,
ut used more loosely).
" No hay por qué, señora," le contestó. " Nuestrc leturn
be
pilotos son todos muy hábiles. Los asientos son mu night to
confortables y los aparatos son del más moderno tipo." toleavei
No había pensado ir volando, pero después de escucha/ a whole

t
esta conversación, la tentación me pareció irresistible the palac
" ¿Me pueden reservar un asiento en el avión de Madri< nmams t
para mañana? " pregunté, cuando la buena señora hub

declarado que nada la induciría a abandonar el suel<
terrestre.
M
Sólo queda un asiento, justamente," me dijo. " Cuest never re
2,500 pesetas incluyendo el transporte de la oficina s

aeródromo."
" Esto me conviene," le dije. " ¿Puede usted decirm
donde puedo cambiar dinero ?
" En la ventanilla de allí señor."
" El cambio hoy es a 167 pesetas," me dijo el emplead
cuando le pedí que me cambiara £15 en dinero español
" Tenemos comisión de una peseta por lo que son 166. Aqu
tiene Vd. 2490 ptas. 2 (dos) billettes de 1000 ptas.,
(cuatro) de 100 ptas. y nueve monedas de diez pesetas."
Vocabulary
noticia = news. emplear = to employ.
aparejarse =
to get ready. ferrocarril == railway.
nacer =
to be born. compañía = company.
dentro (de) =
within. ahogarse = to drown.
irse al fondo =
to sink. escuela = school.
Exercise 23
1. As I had not received the letter I went to the post
office. 2. As soon as the news had been received, all the This ]
inhabitants got ready to defend the city. 3. Cervantes in

_
was born on September 29th, 1547. 4. Some 100,000
persons are employed by the railway companies of this
country. 5. More than 7 million people live within 5 miles
^
used
a
of Trafalgar Square. 6. 257 passengers were drowned when For
the mail-boat sank, not very far from the Spanish coast.l ^
7. This week 490 horses were sold. 8. They have stolen] up a¿j
540 pesetas from me. 9. On Saturdays I never go to school,

10. What will the date be to-morrow?
20th.
It will be (the)¡
11. To-day we are going to Toledo, we shall not
^ p ri)t¡
—
THE NUMERALS (continued) 123
return before the day after to-morrow. went last

12. We
I 5
night to the harbour, from where the mail-boat was due
DO
to leave for Majorca. 13. They have told me that he drinks
k a whole bottle of sherry every day. 14. One can't go into
'Rtible, the palace on Tuesdays. 15. I have nothing left (there
Madric remains to me nothing) of all you gave me the day before
fea 1 yesterday. 16. This street is called " the Avenue of the
arel¡ 2nd of May 17. It seems to me that the spring is the
most delightful season (estación) of the year. 18. I have
never read the " Thousand and One Nights 19. I did
¡jnot lose £100, but £101. 20. We shall be in Madrid
until October 10th.
toi decirnu
el empleado
LESSON XXIV
a
ro español,
THE NUMERALS (continued)
n 166. AqnS
(M pías,, 4
The ordinal numerals are as follows :
1st, primero. nth, undécimo.

2nd, segundo. 12th, duodécimo.
3rd, tercero. 20th, vigésimo.
1 employ,
4th, cuarto. 21st, vigésimo primo.
* railway.
5th, quinto. 30th, trigésimo.
6th, sexto. 40th, cuadragésimo.
to drown,
7th, séptimo. iooth, centésimo.
iooL
8th, octavo. 200th, ducentésimo.
9th, noveno. 500th, quingentésimo.
10th, décimo. 1000th, milésimo.
t to the pot
eived, all thi This list of ordinal numbers is incomplete. In theory

3.
Cervante my number
existing as a cardinal has a corresponding
otne 100,000
ordinal form. In practice, owing to their undue length and
?anies oí ti
Jumsiness, the ordinal numbers higher than 10th are seldom
within 5 ml
ised, and may therefore be largely disregarded.
For instance, " the 41st page " might be la página
uadragésima prima. But it would always be expressed
y
have stok|
s page 41 =
ta página cuarenta y una.
Ordinal numbers are adjectives, and agree in gender and
1 go
mil be (tM
number with their nouns.
.. not Primero and tercero drop the when coming immediately
— — — —

Fori
before a masculine singular noun, or when separated from
itonly by an adjective :
El primer año = the first year.

El tercer día =
the third day.
Simple ordinals i.e., up to ioth —
come before their noun.
Compound ordinals (should you happen to use them)
generally follow the noun. Cardinal numbers used as
ordinals follow the noun. Used in the ordinary way as
cardinals, they come before it :
El quinto tomo = the 5th volume.

El siglo diez y nueve = the 19th century.
Diez y nueve perros = 19 dogs.
omti
We have already seen that cardinals are used in express-
ing dates of the month (el primero excepted). With the fe
names of kings ordinals are used, without the article,
up to ioth. Above that they are replaced by cardinals :
He
Carlos quinto = Charles the fifth. tár.
Luis catorce = Louis the fourteenth.

úe-i
Notethe following collective numerals un par, a pair; :
una docena, a dozen una veintena, a score un centenar,

; ;
a hundred; un millón, a million. Note
These are nouns, not adjectives, and require de before m ^

the following noun una docena de huevos
: a dozen eggs = Elcvei
Fractional numerals down to 1/10 correspond roughly to
the ordinals 1/3
: =
un tercio] 1/4 un cuarto', 1/10 = mi
un Itísr =
décimo] 2/3 =
dos tercios] and so on.
One may also write las dos terceras partes, especially "Tos
:
when the thing of which we have two-thirds is then the

til
mentioned.
From i/nth onwards the cardinal is used with the
termination avo i/i2th =* un dozavo]
: i/iooth un = til
¿Clin
centavo \ =*= medio.
;
La mitad is the noun. The fairy-
story monarch who was always so ready to give away half ten
of his kingdom (regardless of the wishes of his subjects)
would talk about la mitad de su reino. If he was goinc
lift
to cut off someone's head (another favourite relaxation)
at 2.30, he would refer to the fatal hour as las dos y media. :
Fric
Which brings us to the subject of time.

— —
THE NUMERALS (continued) 123
For this the cardinals are used, preceded by the feminine

article to agree with hora(s) understood.
What time = ¿ Qué hora es ? (not está).

is it
It is one o'clock = es la una.
It is two o'clock = son las dos. (Note the change in the
number of the verb.)
se them)
USED AS
At five o'clock =
a las cinco.
It is only six =* son sólo las seis.
T way as
Points of time between the hour and the half-past are

rendered by the addition of y and the number of minutes
{minutos) between the half-hour and the hour by using
;
menos (less) and subtracting the given number of minutes

from the hour ahead.
pted). With
4 Three-twenty = las tres y veinte minutos.
n the article;
Three-forty = las cuatro menos veinte minutos.
i by cardinals
The word minutos is often left out in conversation, par-
when used with menos.
ticularly
One-thirty = la una y media.

m f>ar, a pair; Two-fifteen = las dos y cuarto.
re; mcténá
Note that medio, being an adjective, agrees with hora
understood, while cuarto a noun, does not.
,
require h before
¡
= ad ozen eggs, Eleven o'clock in the morning (at night) = las once de la
roughly to mañana [noche).
i/io = «i It is nearly four o'clock = son cerca de las cuatro.
u
especially
To strike " of a clock is dar which agrees in
y
number
ivith the hour :
¿ Han
dado las diez ya ? =
has it struck ten yet ?
j used
with I Va a dar la una =
it is going to strike one.
Acaban de dar las dos =
it has struck two.
Thefajr^
won.
giveaway!^
Note the following phrases :
l0
oi
E subject^ El año pasado (last year) ; el año que viene (next year);
if he was
goiBj
Llegará el viernes próximo = he will arrive next
carite
relaxat- Friday.
Próximo pasado means the one (month, etc.) just past.
— — 1 '

In business style where we use " ult.", " prox.", etc., tl
word mes is usually omitted :
El seis del actual =

the 6th inst.
El veinte del xdtimo (or del próximo pasado) =* the 20
i
ult. (of last month). i el
A week and a fortnight are reckoned as eight and fiftee

days, both the beginning and closing days of the peric
being counted in (as also in French).
To-day week (fortnight) =* de hoy en ocho (quince) día
Within a week = dentro de ocho días.
Age arce,
We say :
" to be ten years old the Spaniard " to havj a de
ten years ".
lona
How old are you ? *» ¿ cuántos años (or que edad) tiene Vd,
(
I am eighteen = tengo diez y ocho años.

Porla
In Spain a birthday is not celebrated, but rather the da testá
of the Saint after whom the person is named. The acta rji.es,
anniversary of one's birth is called either el día en que cumpt ra

años or simply su cumpleaños. One's Saint's day is either fcy 2
día de su santo or simply sus días. :aim
a
Measurements )a
We say :
" this street is five yards wide The Spaniard
as in dealing with age, uses tenet and puts the equivaler tatrai
,
of " this street has five metres of width "=

esta calle tier Mido
cinco metros de anchura. Similarly with height (altura rio,
length (extensión), depth (profundidad). nsai
When there is no verb connected with the measurement- ife(
e.g., " he lived in a house sixty feet high ", the adjective •'res
1
used, the phrase being changed into he lived in a hous

'
ftiina
high of sixty feet "=

vivió en una casa alta de sesenta pie. í¡tü
Similarly ancho (broad), largo (long), profundo (deep TU k
espeso (thick). k
After the verb ser numerals indicating weight, price^Mo
dimension, etc., are preceded by de :
La distancia es de doce kilómetros.

El precio del caballo es de treinta libras esterlinas— the pria
of the horse is £30.
;
m THE NUMERALS (cont/nue<0 127

'•"W. etc,
ft
Translation IX
Pasé el resto de la mañana explorando
el viejo barrio de
;
= Barcelona.
the
2ot Fui a la Catedral. El exterior era magnífico,
pero el interior estaba demasiado oscuro para permitirme
apreciar sus bellezas. Después fui a ver los viejos palacios,
de los cuales el más interesante es el de la Generalidad,
peno
cuartel general del gobierno.
Anteriormente fué un palacio real, pero España es ahora
fa una república
I
y Cataluña es hasta cierto punto un estado

independiente. Los guardias de la parte exterior llevan un
uniforme muy curioso que poco más o menos data del siglo
catorce. En un patio interior se ven fuentes y naranjos.
Spaniard "to hi
Cerca de la Generalidad se encuentra el palacio de justicia
con una tortuga tallada en la pared, símbolo irónico de la
lentitud de la justicia, lo que podía referirse también a otros
m países además de España.
Por la tarde subí en funicular a la cumbre de Montjuich,
que está dominando la ciudad y contemplé los edificios y
aamed. The actua jardines, restos de la gran exposición que allí tuvo lugar
«hace algunos años.
nut's day is either t Hay allí un ferrocarril aéreo que va del Montjuich
directamente al puerto y, cogiendo un billete de ida y
vuelta, allí me dirigí.
Los barcos, desde la altura del ferrocarril, me parecían
i The Spaniard
pequeñísimos y pensé al poco rato que al día siguiente me
encontraría a mucha más altura sobre la tierra. Me había
divertido cuando la anciana señora había rehusado el viajar
en avión, pero en aquel momento yo mismo no pude menos
fith
R
de pensar que nunca había viajado en un aeroplano. Quizá
measurement-
después de todo, había sido un poco precipitado.
• " '
Por esta razón, cuando llegué al hotel estaba deprimido
^".thead]
pero una buena cena y una copa de clarete reanimaron mi
in
he lived
espíritu y me encontré pensando tranquilamente en mi
táaje. Pero a pesar de eso no dormí tan bien como acos-
tumbro y estaba ya despierto cuando los gallos, desem-
pnce,
peñando su oficio de despertadores, empezaron a cantar.
1 weight,
Vocabulary
morir = to die. todo el mundo = everybody.
suceder = to succeed. cada uno = everybody;
ocupar = to occupy. la clase = class.
—

área =* area. cuento «• story.
cuadrado = square capítulo =« chapter.
(adj.). principio mm beginning.
Exercise 24
i. The palace occupies an area of more than 500 squar
feet. 2. My daughter is only ten years old, but she is the firs
of her class. 3. The distance from Barcelona to the frontie
is more than a hundred kilometres. 4. This story is to b
found in the seventeenth chapter of the book. 5. To-morrov
week we shall depart for Salamanca, the capital of th
province. 6. The river is thirty metres wide and five metre
deep. 7. That lady is not a Spaniard but a Frenchwoman
8. We shall have to return to Madrid within five days
9. The train is due to start at 2.45. 10. My uncle's librar
contains hundreds of books. 11. Henry IV (Enrique) o
France was killed in 1610. 12. I cannot help thinkin|
of what has happened to him. 13. It had just struck sevei
when I reached the harbour. 14. More than two dozei
people were making their way towards the church. 15. ]
don t like this book. I have read from the first chapter t<
p. 92 without coming across (encontrar) anything interesting
16. Charles IV succeeded Charles III on August 12th, 1788
17. Everybody knows that a day is the seventh part of a week
and that ten is the half of twenty. 18. Louis XIV was 7;
years old when he died in 1715. 19. I shall stay here until i
little before 6.0. 20. During the summer of last year I wen
for the second time to San Sebastian, a delightful town.
LESSON XXV
PARA AND POR
These two prepositions are so important that they must
have a lesson to themselves. Their uses may be summarised
as follows :
Por indicates the agent by whom an action is per^

(1)
formed. As already pointed out, de is required if the actiori
is mental.
Este libro fué escrito por Blasco Ibañez.

— — —— — — —
PARA AND POR 129
(2) The reason or motive for some action :
Por estarazón no puedo acompañarle a Vd. = for this

reason I cannot accompany you.
Por miedo = for fear.
Por falta de = for lack of.
(3) Indicates manner or means :
Por tren = by train.

Por la ventana = through the window.
lo-mornw
Por las calles = through the streets.
átaloffc
nvemetaei (4) Indicates unaccomplished action :
nchwonian, Está por decir =»

it is yet to be said.
i five dayi El tren está por salir == the train has yet to start.
cle'slibr;
Etwijw) (5) Means " in favour of " instead of or " as a " :
Jp think Le dejaron por muerto = they left him for dead.

strucksevtB Estoy por él =
I am in favour of him.
two He venido por él [en vez de él) I have come instead of =
ici 15.I him.
: chapter to Pasó por profesor =
he passed as a teacher.
interestim
(6) With verbs of motion, but not before places, it
12th, 17A
_
indicates the object of a mission :
rt of a week,
MY was w Le mandé por médico = I sent him for the doctor.

el
.*here untila
Va por vino = he goes for wine.
tyear I weot
(7) Corresponds to the English " per " in measure, rate
tfui town.
or number :
A seis por ciento =

at six per cent.
Gana cinco pesetas por día =
he earns five pesetas a day.
(8) Is used in speaking of exchanges :
Le daré mis caballos por aquel auto = I will give you my

it they horses (in exchange) for that car.
Palabra por palabra = word for word.
Para (1) expresses the destination or purpose for which
.
-
action
anything is intended :
Salgo mañana para Londres = I leave to-morrow for

London.
— —— — — !

Estudia para abogado =
he is studying to be a lawyer. Le<
Un libro escrito por el profesor para sus discípulos a = ríen
book written by the teacher for his pupils. F

Esta
(2) It is used with verbs of motion before places :
Partir para España = to start for Spain. apa:
(Viajar por Francia = to travel through France.)
(3) Indicates purpose :

ffftej
Como para vivir = I eat in order to live. negun
bo en i
(4) Indicates that something will shortly happen,

especially with estar : — ,
El tren está para salir = the train is about to start.

marill
(5) Denotes aptitude, readiness or utility :
y el te:
Madera para sillas = wood for chairs. ironí

Sello para fechar cartas = letter stamp.
(6) Denotes a point or limit of future time :
Para entonces estarán hechos = mn

by then they will be done.
Y01
(7) Has the meaning or idea of " considering that " :

la ra
Hace calor para diciembre = it is hot for (considering dial aci
it is) December. f.m

Para extranjero habla bien
ser el español = he speaks ¡avió!
Spanish well for a foreigner. fcr n
ta al
When followed by an infinitive to denote purpose, para kspui
denotes certainty as to the result, por merely intention e
without conviction of success. C(
Trabajo por ganar la vida, for instance, would imply that I filad
endeavour to gain my living, whereas trabajo para ganar la
vida would mean that I work in order to live, and succeed
in doing so. avi
Translation X
L
Me vestf precipitadamente hice la maleta y desayuné. ,
Después pagué la factura. El servicio estaba incluido, un

sobrecargo del 10 por ciento había sido añadido a los gastos, j
pero le di al camarero 5 pesetas, con lo que se quedó muy

satisfecho.
"
PARA AND POR 131
Le dije al proprietario que me bajaran la maleta y el

os =a portero buscó un taxi. Entré en él y el portero le dijo al
chófer que me llevara a las oficinas del L.P.A.E.
Estaba contento de ver que no hacía viento, pero sin
embargo estaba un poco nervioso. Me habían dicho que
los pasajeros podían llevar consigo 15 kilógramos de
equipaje, pero como mi maleta pesaba un poco más, tuve
que pagar 5 pesetas de diferencia. Me miraron el pasa-
porte y el billete, después me pesaron. Cuando el oficial se
aseguró que mi cámara fotográfica estaba en mi maleta y
no en mi bolsillo, entré en el autobús, donde ya otros doce
pasajeros esperaban.
Salimos al poco rato y llegamos al aeródromo. En-
di tramos en un aeroplano cuyas alas estaban pintadas de
.amarillo y rojo, los colores nacionales de España. El piloto
y el telegrafista ocuparon sus asientos, los motores comen-
zaron a marchar y el avión empezó a moverse por el campo
aumentando su velocidad. Sostuve mi respiración un
imomento cuando un ligero bamboleo me advirtió que
ihabíamos abandonado el suelo.
be done,
ill ,
Yo no soy uno de esos que pueden estar en la punta de

baf'H ;una roca escarpada, y mirar hacia abajo, pero muy pronto
me acostumbré a la sensación. En 5 minutos estaba ya
gozando, a pesar del hecho de que una o dos veces cuando
el avión entró en uno de esos vacíos de aire, pareció que iba a
caer rápidamente. Subimos muy alto y volamos sobre
una alfombra de nubes con un sol resplandeciente. Poco
rpose, fan después las nubes desaparecían y miré hacia abajo donde una
%
j inte
gran extensión de terreno se veía. Parecía llano, aunque
hay considerables cadenas de montañas entre Barcelona
mply that I y Madrid. Por fin el avión comenzó a descender y por un
momento sentí la impresión que se experimenta al bajar
en un ascensor. Aterrizamos con un golpe muy perceptible.
El avión se paró y salí con un zumbido sordo en mis
oídos causado por el ruido de los motores, para hacerme
recordar que acababa de tener mi primera experiencia del
aire.
Vocabulary
IOS gí
L
quedó muí
cerrar = to close. talento = talent.
batalla = battle. partido = party, faction.
I3i TEACH YOURSELF SPANISH
tropa =* troop. asustarse = to be frightened§fl
librero »
bookseller. necesitar = to need. He of
Puesto que =
since, seeing tarde = late,
that.
(ffhk
Exercise 25
1
i. Whenhe had killed the policeman the robber fled ii

trve
order to hide himself in the woods. 2. The king had hi
Now \
enemies killed. 3. I hold him to be (for) a painter of the ^" j
greatest talent. 4. It is said that a battle is about to tak< accoi

place between the troops of the two parties. 5. Thar
the;
remains to be seen. It seems to me that neither (ninguno ft
pronu
of the two has enough money to pay the soldiers. 6. Mj
7. We sent m}
"his s
sister is ill, so I have come instead of her.

brother for the doctor, who says there is no cause for alarn
(there is not for what to alarm oneself). 8. I have tole
my bookseller to send me all the books written by Palacic PJ ^
Valdés. 9. The house whose door is painted red belongs tc •
a friend of ours who is ninety years old. 10. I need some

y/j
money in order to buy a house. My cousin has promised tc r.
lend it to me at 3 per cent n. It is impossible for me tc PÉ
t e
pay you so large a sum (a sum so large), seeing that I onl;
earn ¿3 a week. 12. When I was studying to be a doctor
lived in Paris. 13. As soon as the plane had begun to move
\ eirste
id
I closed my eyes.
it i
14. For a child of eight he writes very

tor or
well. 15. I was on the point of leaving when you came to see
com
me. 16. He passed as one of the most intelligent men in the
>e cc
fatt
village. 17. For lack of time I have not read the paper
this morning. Will you tell me what has happened? W\
18. I will do it for you with great pleasure.
acli
19. In spite r
(
on
!
of the heat (that it made), we decided to go on foot. 20.

You will have to dress hurriedly in order not to arri\u late u
J
at the station.
LESSON XXVI h
it
RADICAL CHANGING VERBS * ,
We have already encountered certain verbs which are ;

1
ei
definitely irregular, in that in certain tenses there is an
alt. ration of the stein of the verb sueh are haber, venir
:
and ser. The commonest irregularities of these verbs had

ft*
RADICAL CHANGING VERBS 133
een pointed out, but to meet all contingencies a fuller

able of them will be found before the vocabulary at the
ad of the book.
We have also met other verbs which are not irregular,
ut which, owing to the rules governing Spanish pronun-
iation, make slight modifications in their spelling so as to
reserve their sound consistently throughout a tense.
had
-"r of the
his
Now we come to another group of verbs which cannot
xactly be classed as irregular, since their terminations are
•l to take
c
Nes. 1
U according to rule. But these verbs are peculiar, in
5, That
lat they change the vowel of the stem whenever the accent
¿tüeither^wo
1 pronunciation falls upon the stem vowel.
iüe soldiers.
6
This state of affairs occurs only in the first, second and
:
7- We sent my
flárd persons singular and the third person plural of the
if). Uto™
:oi alarm
resent indicative and present subjunctive — also in the
;cond person singular of the imperative; but this will
3 written by BalaJ
Dt trouble us, as, to all intents and purposes, we do not
oted red belongs!
jquire the familiar second person form. Elsewhere the
:o. I need some
:cent falls on the termination, and not on the stem, so no
> promised to
teration takes place.
iefor meto
The easiest way to deal with this irregularity will be to
seeing that 1
,
wide the various offending verbs into groups according to

doct; r,I
:
ieir stem vowel and infinitive ending. From the look of a
lO move,
irb it is impossible to tell whether it is a radical changing
..••-very
le or not. Actually one soon becomes familiar with
came to see
íe commonest ones, but, for safety's sake, in the vocabu-
1
--nt men inÜM

ry at the end of the book you will find the first singular of
id the paper
-
íe present indicative of any radical changing verb enclosed

happened!
brackets after the infinitive. Naturally the list will not
;
mt 19.
Inspij
t complete, as the vocabulary is not a dictionary of the
vanish language, but merely a list of the words occurring

v not to arrive
la
this book. Still, you will find it helpful, owing to the
^possibility of recognising one of these verbs at sight,
or instance : alcanzar has a present indicative, alcanzo.
ne therefore naturally expects empezar to take the form
npezo. But this is wrong. The correct form is empiezo,
VERBS
"esent subjunctive empiece. One would expect empieze,
\-erbs 1 at we have got to remember, as was pointed out in dealing
SI
there is a|
ith orthographic changes in certain verbs, that z is changed
ire •i to c before e, and z is not allowed to be used before e or i.
1Pce verbs M ctually there would be no difference in sound, but the
— ;

'
change isreauired by a rather arbitrary law governing th<

rules of the language. This point, though, has been deal PH
with. Any verb, whether radical changing or not, has t<1 PJ
conform to the rules of spelling and pronunciation. In thii
lesson we are concerned with this common but irregula ^ 0TE
^
change in the stem vowel in four persons of the presen
indicative and subjunctive. ^
Class I (a) consists of or and er verbs which change th< iLASS
stem vowels e and o into is and ue respectively. Bui M-
remember, once again, that this alteration only takei ksecl
place in those persons of the present indicative and presem
subjunctive where the stress falls on the stem vowel ^ el
Examples : cerrar, perder.

Pres. Ind. Pres. Subj. Pres. Ind. Pres. Subj.
cierro cierre pierdo pierda
(cierras) (cierres) (pierdes) (pierdas)
¿june
cierra cierre pierde pierda
I ta
cerramos cerremos perdemos perdamos
lo vo
(cerráis) (cerréis) (perdéis) (perdáis)
lo ma
cierran cierren pierden pierdan
The
Common verbs of this class are :

:h¿
empezar, to begin. recomendar, to recommend.

comenzar, to commence, sentarse, to sit down. Pres.
pensar, to think. entender, to understand.

negar, to deny. defender, to defend.
Class I (b). Stem vowel o. Costar (to cost). Morder sentf
(to bite).

cuesto cueste muerdo muerda
(cuestas) (cuestes) (muerdes) (muerdas)
¡Jj
muerde muerda
j
cuesta cueste
costamos costemos mordemos mordamof
(costáis) (costéis) (mordéis) (mordáis) Ik
cuestan cuesten muerden muerdan I Su
Common verbs of this class are

encontrar, to meet. colgar, to hang up. mo
acordarse, to remember. almorzar, to lunch.
volar, to fly. llover, to rain.
acostarse, to go to bed. volver, to return.
— : :: —
NISH
'governing
the Itshould be remembered that such a verb as oler (to
^been" imell i.e., to emit a smell) will take the form huelo, since,
or not,
has ti igain according to the rules of the language, no word can
^
1
tot
Inthb
irregular
)egin with ue.
Note also that jugar (to play), forzar (to force) and
orcer (to twist) can be included in this class, taking the
orms juego, fuerzo and tuerzo respectively.
* which ¿ Class II consists of ir verbs with e and as the stem
ftpectiv rowel. In the present indicative and present subjunctive
nina o: hese change (when accented on the stem) to ie and ue
i present •espectively. In addition, this class makes an additional
:
tie stem vowd ihange in the past definite and present subjunctive. When
he stem syllable is not accented and is immediately fol-
owed by two vowels or by a, the e and become i and u
espectively.
pierda
It is worth remembering for reference that the imperfect
pierdas)
ubjunctive, past subjunctive and future subjunctive are
pierda
II formed from the past definite stem, and therefore, since
oerdamoj
(perdáis)
wo vowels occur throughout in their terminations, they
Iso make the change from e and to i and u.
The same applies to the gerund (present participle) of
his class. Typical verbs : sentir (to feel) ; dormir (to sleep).
'.íorecomm
jit down.
understand siento sienta duermo duerma

1 defend. (sientes) (sientas) (duermes) (duermas)
Motil
siente sienta duerme duerma
rt),
sentimos sintamos dormimos durmamos

sentís sintáis (dormís) (durmáis)
:i Pres. Subj,
sienten sientan duermen duerman
I >ast Def . sentí sintió sentimos sintieron,
(muerdas
fa) >ast Def. : dormí durmió dormimos durmieron,
i mp. Subj. : sintiera durmiera (i and u throughout),
*ast Subj. sintiese durmiese (i and u throughout),

:
ut. Subj. sintiere durmiere (i and u throughout),
rerund : sintiendo durmiendo.
sup.
tentir, to lie. herir, to wound. .
ynvertir, to convert, change, morir, to die.

dvertir, to notice. consentir, to consent, agree.
—

Class III consists of it verbs with the stem vowel s.
Here again the stem vowel t changes to i when accented.
It also changes to % whenever the termination begins with
one of the strong vowels (a, o, e). In the past definite stem
the stem vowel becomes * when the termination begins with
a diphthong. Typical verb : servir (to serve).
Pres. Ind. : sirvo sirve servimos sirven.
Pres. Subj. : sirva sirva sirvamos sirvan.
Imperf. Ind. : servía servía servíamos servían.
Past Def. : serví sirvió servimos sirvieron.
despedirse, to take leave. pedir, to ask, beg.

elegir, to elect. repetir, to repeat.
vestirse, to dress.
Remember that all these verbs behave quite normally in

the imperfect indicative, future and conditional.
This does not quite exhaust the subject (though it may
have exhausted you I). Still, this book does not set out to
be a formal grammar, and enough has been said in this
lesson to illustrate the most commonly met examples of
root changing in otherwise regular verbs.
As no other grammatical points have been touched on in
this lesson, the exercise, while introducing verbs of these
various types, may profitably be devoted to revision of
earlier material.
Translation XI
Después de haber salido del autobús que me condujo del
aeródromo a la oficina de la compañia de aviación de Madrid,
le pedí al oficial que me recomendase un hotel donde los
precios no fueran muy elevados. Me señaló varios busqué ;
un taxi para ir al primero, el cual no se hallaba muy

lejos del Prado el Prado es una de las más famosas galería!
;
de pintura del mundo.

El taxi se paró a la puerta del hotel, bajé y le dije al
chófer que esperara un momento. Entré y le pregunté al
gerente del hotel si tenía vacante una habitación para una
persona.
" ; Piensa Vd. estar mucho tiempo? " me preguntó.
u
No. Sólo necesito una habitación para tres noches.'
;
" En ese caso le podemos dar a Vd. una habitación en el

segundo piso. Si Vd. quiere la pensión completa, cuesta
500 pesetas."
" Esto está muy bien/' le dije.
Pagué al conductor del taxi, y el mozo del hotel cogió
mi maleta, subimos en el ascensor y llegamos a mi cuarto.
Era demasiado tarde para la comida y no tenía hambre
pedí pues una taza de café y leí un periódico que alguien
nabía dejado en una de las mesas del salón. De pronto me
fijé en la cartelera de espectáculos y vi que en uno de los
teatros representaban " El pueblo de las mujeres ".
Siempre es interesante asistir a un teatro en una nación
extranjera, pero también es muy difícil para un extranjero el
comprender de lo que se trata. Pero yo había leído esta
obra traducida al inglés y por tanto creí que podría seguir
la trama de la comedia sin dificultad.
Me levanté pues del sofá y le dije al gerente si podría
telefonear al teatro para que me reservaran una localidad.
" Seguramente, Señor. "
¿ Cuándo quiere Vd. ir?
" Me gustaría un asiento para la representación de esta
noche. Pero no quiero palco, algo que sea más barato/'
El gerente descolgó el receptor.
M
Central, póngame con el 47,98."
Esperó un momento.
"¿Tiene Vd. entradas para esta noche?" continuó.
¿Qué localidades quiero? Solamente una. ¿Tiene Vd.
alguna en el patio de butacas? Bueno. ¿Cuánto es?
¿ 100 pesetas ? Muy bien. Gracias."
Colgó el aparato y se volvió a mí.
" Señor, la representación empieza a las nueve."
1 donde loi
ios; bus Vocabulary

aliaba muy darse prisa = to hurry (up), guerra = war.
osas galería alquilar = to hire. prisionero = prisoner.
Exercise 26
1. My father always goes to bed before 11 p.m., but he
auna ioes not sleep well. 2. Hurry up The train is beginning
!
:o move. 3. I think (of) hiring a car for six weeks. How

nuch does it cost to do so (it) ? 4. Do not hang up the
•eceiver. I want to invite your friend to accompany us to
the theatre. 5. One never meets anyone in this street
6. It is well known that the prisoner wounded three police
men, of whom one died before nightfall. 7. At what tim
do the shops shut on Thursdays? At half-past six. £
Lunch was served yesterday at noon instead of at on Sames 0:
o'clock. 9. They dressed rapidly so as not to arrive lat ^

at the station. 10. He begged me to recommend him
hotel near the centre of the city. 11. For six weeks I hav
In Span
been learning to play the piano. 12. Until a little while ag
required
there were almost no foreigners in this country. 13. I aske< peral ser
him if he could come with us, but he went away withou

saying anything. 14. Did you see him as you were passin
through the streets ? No, I didn't. 15. I noticed tnat th
door was open, which surprised me. 16. My two sister
meet one another every four days at the house of Mrs is bad
Martinez. 17. I have not got your money now, but I wi"
give it to you next Tuesday. 18. Good-bye for the moment
we shall be very glad to see you at 4.15. 19. More than
hundred people died of hunger in this town during the las
year of the war. 20. To-morrow morning we shall have t< cu
$ no
have breakfast before eight o'clock.
LESSON XXVII Incite
USE OF THE ARTICLES

In many instances the use of the definite and indefinite
same in Spanish as in English. These there
articles is the
fore can be passed over without comment. There remair 3«jn
certain usages differing from the English practice, in par
or wholly, and these will be dealt with in this lesson.
In both languages the name of a beast, plant, etc
requires the article before it in the singular when it is r<
garded as a representative of the species concerned :
The dog is useful to man = el perro es útil a los hombrt

In Spanish the article is also required in the pluri
which is not generally the case in English :
— U*(G
Los perros son utiles a los hombres = dogs are useful
men.
Las águilas son aves de rapiña = eagles are birds of prefl tuft^
—— — ——
USE OF THE ARTICLES 139

tins
street
^three
In both languages likewise the article is required before
epithets attached to a proper name
police
:
^ what timi
past six.
Alfonso el Sabio. Pedro el Cruel. Alejandro el Grande.
d oí at Names of oceans, seas, rivers, mountain ranges and single
o arrive
I* peaks require the article in Spanish :
El Pacífico. Los Pirineos. El Ebro. El Vesuvio.

êksHau
ttie while an
In Spanish (but rarely in English) the definite article
is required before any noun, singular or plural, used in a
iJIaaT
way
general sense or as representative of an entire class :
withoil
were passim El hombre es mortal. Los caballos son animales inteligentes.

iced that
4 The same applies to abstract nouns or verbal infinitives :
'
two
rose of
sisters
Mn
El excesivo beber perjudica a la salud =
excessive drinking
is bad for the health.
;w but wi
(
I
La codicia es un pecado mortal =» greed is a deadly sin.
the moment
More
Abstract nouns, qualified by an adjective, require the
rinjthe last
ndefinite articlewhen they are the objects of a verb,
shaJJ haveto
Jiough not usually when governed by a preposition :
Demuestra un entusiasmo excepcional he shows ex- =

ceptional enthusiasm but con gran cuidado (with
:
great care).
In modem Spanish the definite article is not used before
he names of most countries :
ttfl
-iindeMi
Inglaterra tiene muchas posesiones coloniales.
"hese there
España es una
república.
El rey de Inglaterra ha vuelto de Francia (the king of
There remai
tice, in par
England has returned from France).
Certain countries, continents, provinces, towns require
piant, etCf
he definite article even after prepositions. Most of these
when it is r
ire to be found in the East or in the Americas la China, :
l Japón, el Asia, la America del Sur, la America del Norte,

c¿$
concerned :-j
a Florida, el Brasil, el Ecuador, el Perú, la Argentina, la

labana. In Europe practically the only example is La
the plu^
paired ni
lorurta (Corunna). In any case the article is required if
he name of the country is qualified by an adjective :
t
dogs are
e * El Asia Menor (Asia Minor).
pre
La Gran Bretaña (Great Britain).
s of
— — »
Mo TEACH YOURSELF SPANISH

As a general rule the article should be repeated befor
o
each noun. If two or more nouns are closely connects Itance
bri(
in meaning or are connected by o (or), the article is prefer)
ably omitted before all except the first. In enumeration
{i.e., a rapid string of words) the article is generally omitte< ^
altogether for the sake of vividness :
Tenemos un baúl y una maleta = we have a trunk an< \tm

a suitcase. Engli;
El jefe o presidente de la sociedad = the head or presiden

of
of the society. The
El entusiasmo y celo del Gobernador = the Governor' ml

enthusiasm and zeal.
—
Hombres, mujeres, niños todos se ahogaron «= men
The í
—
women and children all were drowned.
j^j]
fag us
In actual practice the Spanish do not like using thre The si
nouns connected merely by " and For instance " tin :
little
doctors, the bishops and the lawyers congratulated them
selves " would most elegantly be rendered by using tanto—
t first
como tanto los médicos como los abogados y los obispos s. 11

: est
felicitaron, tanto and como here having roughly the meaning

of " both
" —
" as well as
The article is not required before the proper names o:
people or animals, unless they are qualified by an adjective
Pedro, but el viejo Pedro.
In proverbial sayings (which in most languages are liable
to override the strict rules of grammar), together witlj ^ ;en(
chapter headings, book titles, etc., the article is omitted

Bit
Its omission in cases of apposition has already been deal
with.
Perro ladrador, poco mordedor = a dog that barks muck
íjectiv
bites little {i.e., his bark is worse than his bite).

Gramática sucinta de la lengua española =
a short Spanish
grammar.
The article is omitted after such verbs as " to be "t<í
become ", " to seem " to call ", " to name ", if they are.
followed by some word denoting rank, nationality, dignity, Thee
office, etc. :
Ha
Es hijo de un sastre «= he is the son of a tailor, but : df
el hijo mayor del sastre (qualified by an adjective).
— — — —— — — :
USE OP THE ARTICLES 141
There are no adjectives in Spanish to express the sub-

conn stance of which a thing is made. Phrases such as " an
^ Wide is iron bridge " a marble statue " must be turned into
prefife
w enum^r: " a bridge of iron " a statue of marble no article being
y omittec
required before the second noun :
Una estatua de mármol.

laveat
^rhe same form is found frequently in the Spanish equivalent
Df English compound nouns :
'•"•president
The seaport =
el puerto de mar ;
the table-spoon = la
& Governort cuchara de mesa.
The sameprinciple applies in compound nouns con-
men.
English of a participle and a noun, the infinitive
listing in
oeing used in Spanish for the English participle :
sing three
ice:
The sewing machine = la máquina de coser.
"the
ited them-
If the second word expresses the use or purpose for which
;he first is intended, para is used instead of de :
m tanto--
á'sôs si El estante para libros = the book-case.

e meaning
Sometimes the compound word is formed from a derivative
f)f the main word.
names ol
azúcar, sugar. azucarero, sugar-bowl.

lojfiD adjective;
tinta ink.
, tintero, inkstand.
5 are liabli When an adjective qualifies two singular nouns of differ-
íer witl >nt gender, the adjective is in the masculine plural :
omittei
is
El libro y la mesa son buenos.
already been
If one of these nouns is singular and the other plural, the
idjective is plural and agrees in gender with the nearest :
• ¿at barks muí

El libro y las mesas son buenas.
jan his We).
= Spanis
Ifboth nouns are plural the adjective takes the gender
* a short
if the nearest, which should, if possible, be the masculine
me :
has'tobeVl
Las mesas y los libros son buenos.
-
,
iftheya
The order of two singular nouns can often be changed

.g., La mesa y el libro son buenos. (The adjective has to
>e made plural since there are two nouns and it sounds better
but:
oí a
tailor,
o have the masculine noun the nearer to the adjective.)
adjective),
bv an
i
4a TEACH YOURSELF SPANISH
ie se
Translation XII vida
Llegué al teatro muy temprano y un acomodador me Xo ti
señaló mi Estaba contento de lo bien que vela

asiento. teatr
el escenario. Tuve
que esperar media hora hasta que
empezó la función, pero no me aburrí; estuve muy
entretenido observando la entrada de los espectadores.
Poco tiempo después un señor se sentó junto a mí y re-
conociendo, evidentemente por mi traje, que era extranjero »r(
me preguntó si era la primera vez que visitaba Madrid. am

Le contesté que sí y que también era la primera vez que ;¡é
asistía a un teatro español.

M
Los autores de esta obra, los hermanos Quintero,
han escrito muchas obras buenas. ¿No es verdad? 11 le lié
pregunté. ta
" Sí, más de cincuenta. Los dramáticos españoles son im
muy prolíficos. Pero los autores modernos en este sentido
no pueden ser comparados con Lope de Vega, quien, dicho isla:
sea de paso, nació en Madrid. mi

" Su vida estuvo llena de acontecimientos. Fué hijo de it$¡l
un pobre comerciante, pero un noble se interesó en el

muchacho y le envió a estudiar a la Universidad de Alcalá.
Cuando era aún un hombre joven fué desterrado de Madrid
por 5 años. Entonces navegó en la Armada Invencible
1 1
enviada por el Rey Felipe II. Volvió sano y salvo y aun l Vi
escribió un poema contra Drake. Después comenzó a

escribir comedias. Para el fin de su vida había escrito Was
más de i,8oo, de las cuales 450 han sobrevivido. Por otra

parte, sus obras fueron escritas en verso, no en prosa. Han
Muchas de ellas fueron comedias de capa y espada '
j
text
tratando del honor y de las costumbres de la nobleza en tilas
aquellos días. Dramáticos de todos los paises han tomado Ñas
modelo de sus tramas las obras de Calderón fueron también

:
ferwa
muy populares. ines í
4
Pero los dramas de ambos pertenecen a una época tieric
[)asada. Los escritores de hoy día son observadores de ivan¡
a vida real, y los hermanos Quintero son excelentes dramá- Üthe
ticos; sin embargo, algunos prefieren las obras de Bena- lyp
vente y Sierra. Si Vd. va a Sevilla, encontrará una fuenti

rodeada de bancos de piedra con estantes conteniendo 1
obras de los hermanos Quintero. No hay muchos hombr<
USE OF THE ARTICLES 143
que se encuentren honrados con un monumento durante

su vida."
No tuvo tiempo de contarme nada más aquel señor pues
'bien
que ved ú teatro estaba ya lleno, no había un asiento vacante y
^ hasta
v 3I telón se levantó.
! estuve
nroy
5
espectador Vocabulary
atoamiyn,
acero = steel. cuerda = rope.
e era
extranjera
impropio =x inapt. bullicio= bustle.
= science. Jorge = George.
átala Madrid,
ciencia
nmera vez
que piedra = stohe. tostar = to roast, toast.
grano = grain, bean. oscuro = dark.
m Qnint
castaño = chestnut. Nápoles = Naples.
s verdad?" li volcán = volcano. clima(m.) = climate.
Nueva York = New York, riguroso = severe.
españoles son
América del Norte = N. cigarro *= cigar.
5 en este sentid»
America. máquina de escribir =
?a T
quien, dicto
isla = island. typewriter.
nombre = name. = coffee tree.
cafeto
'i Fué hijo de ilegible = illegible. = red.
colorado
interesó en al verde = green. cáñamo = hemp.
adad de Alcali!
:ado de Madrid!
Exercise 27
ida Invencible I
Vesuvius, one of the most famous volcanoes in the
1.
o y salvo y aui
vorld, is situated in the centre of Italy, close to Naples.
m comenzó ai
1
:.Washington is the capital or principal city of the United
h habla escrito
Itates, but New York is the largest city in the New World.
Porotrí
lívido.
;.Many of the buildings in various quarters of New York
¡c, do en prosa
re extremely high. 4. I recognised by his complexion as
espada)
5. When
rapa y
/ell as by his clothes that he was a foreigner.
ie la nobleza
ie was only eight years old he began to study music, but
uses lian tomí
fterwards he became an actor. 6. Old Charles went many
imes to Canada, didn't he? 7. The climate of North
unerica is much more rigorous than that of Spain. 8.
epoa
:enai
lavana, the capital of the island of Cuba, is known through-
l
observador
ut the world for the cigars to which it has given its name.
*
acetates
Typewriters are very useful, especially nowadays when
.
del
5
obras lany people write in an almost illegible manner. 10. The
ntraráunaft
offee tree is a tree the colour of whose fruit changes from
reen to (en) red. 11. When the beans are roasted they
:
muchos ho*
assume (take) a dark chestnut colour (colour chest nu* Hicat
dark). 12. KingGeorge VI has just returned from France |er(
having spent four days in the French capital. 13. Thi pe,(
general ordered stone walls to be constructed. 14. Shop- gyve
—
keepers, farmers, tradesmen all do as much as they can te g? a¡
earn their living. 15. The two writers are excellent play porin
wrights, but neither the one nor the other can be comparec ¿ wl
with Benavente, who, by the way, lives now in Valencia
16. Books which treat of the science of political economy \« a
—
are very numerous the reading (of) them bores me very Ul\
much. 17. It is easy to accustom oneself to the noise anc M\
bustle of modern life. 18. The name Pacific is inapt flng
the last time I went to Hong Kong I was very seasick. 19^ to .
Alexander the Great died at the age of thirty, having ft)

conquered (conquistar) the greater part of the known world. tatn
20. Steel hawsers are stronger than hemp ropes.
p
Pies
LESSON XXVIII mpi
THE SUBJUNCTIVE
The Subjunctive Mood is scarcely ever employed in ^
modern English. It is true that we say " if I were you
'
J*,
3
instead of " if I was you

: but apart from that it is not ¿
often that the subjunctive is used. In Spanish its use, F
even among comparatively uneducated people, is far more rj
widespread.
We have already pointed out that the indicative is the
mood used to express knowledge, fact or certainty. It if
used in principal clauses and in direct questions.
The primary use of the subjunctive is to express desire,
doubt or some emotion. It may, as we shall see later, be
employed in principal clauses. But it is more frequently
to De found in dependent clauses i.e., in those which
: d
cannot stand alone trnt are dependent on some other word, h
•uch as a verb or a conjunction, before they can make \
complete sense.
The tense of the indicative to be used in any given sen-" 1
tence is generally clear enough from the meaning. B

it is hopeless to try to give exact meanings to the ten
of the subjunctive. " May " or " might are sometin*

'
— —
NrSH
THE SUBJUNCTIVE 145

^ chesty
ndications of the subjunctive. But a sentence containing
^ France
words will quite possibly be in the indicative,
iither of these
Tk
13.
vhile, on the other hand, a clause requiring the subjunctive
H Sop. nay very well not contain either of them. must there- We
e can
y
J
Si
ore approach the matter from another point of view,
lent play,
gnoring the English of the sentence, and seeing what words
compare)
jid what circumstances call for the employment of the
Valencia.
ubjunctive in Spanish.
As a preliminary, since in this lesson we shall confine
.
^ wresmevM
îi to
the noise
mrselves to the present subjunctive, it will be as well to
ecall that the present subjunctive of ar verbs is formed by
!
is inapt j
.dding to the stem the following endings -e, (-es), -e, -etnos,
:
^ v-n/ seasick,
q, tiéis), -en. In er and ir verbs by adding -a, (-as), -a, -amos,
:
of thirty,
havjj
-áis) -an. The characteristic vowel in the present in-
^ the known wod
ilicative of ar verbs is a, in er and ir verbs e. In the present
mp ropes,
:ubjunctive these vowels change places.
Present Subjunctive :
ompre (compres) compre compremos (compréis) compren

iva (vivas) viva vivamos (viváis) vivan
Irregular vel"bs (as well as the more normal root-changing
ever emdoved in
fer ^ s
) g
enera Uy follow in the subjunctive their irregularity
if I were v il"
the indicative.
"omthatitisnoi
Here, in some cases for the second time, are illustrated
Spanish its utf
he present subjunctive of the commonest irregular
wple.isiarmffl r
erbs :
k indicative is Hi
tener tenga tenga tengamos tengan
or certainty, It
haber haya haya hayamos hayan
questions,
querer quiera quiera queramos quieran
desi
ser sea sea seamos sean
i to express
ir vaya vaya vayamos vayan
:
shall see later
frequentl
salir salga salga salgamos salgan
is more
whP dar dé dé demos den
t) in those
other woi
hacer haga haga hagamos hagan
o 'some
it
ver vea vea veamos vean
they can
if e
venir venga venga vengamos vengan
given sea11
pedir pida pida pidamos pidan
j in any
lei The perfect subjunctive of any verb formed' by com-

is
aings to
the tei >ining the present subjunctive of haber with the past
jparesometimi >articiple of the given verb. Haya dicho, etc.
— —
i
Use of the Subjunctive

The subjunctive is required in a clause dependent or
Xi
log
a verb of commanding, demanding, telling, requesting, 3,1m;
approving, permitting, suggesting or forbidding. It will Bark
be noticed that all these verbs have the effect, either strongly
or mildly, of causing something to be done or someone to
:W
act.
we
In these cases such a sentence as "I will tell him to
:
6 k
do it " is turned into "I will tell him that he (should
:
do it ". Le diré (a ÍÍ) que lo haga.

Note that u should " here is translated by the sub-
junctive, not by the conditional. It cannot be too strongly
emphasised that it is impossible to give fixed meanings 4. bir
to the subjunctive. if, i
Further examples of this use of the subjunctive are given 0:
below : áataq
Le pido a Vd. que me ayude = I beg you to help me.

Propongo aue el Sr. X. sea elegido = I propose that Mr.
jjjj^
X. be elected.
El juez ha mandado que se liberte al prisionero = the judge
has ordered the prisoner to be set free.
Contrast the following sentences :

in
Le dije que no tenía nada que declarar = I told him I had

he
nothing to declare.
Le diré que se vaya = I will tell him to go away.
he
The first is merely a statement of fact. The second is )^

an order, the final clause being subordinate to or dependent
^
on the other. The first might be expressed I have J :
'
nothing to declare," I said. The second would still remain

a command " Go away, I shall tell him ".
:
2. The second use of the subjunctive is in clauses governed--

by verbs expressing emotion- -fear, sorrow, surprise, etc.
Jj^
Temo que él esté muerto = I am afraid that he is dead. 1^
Siento que se lo haya dicho a él I am sorry that he has
been told (of) it.

Note that when the subject of the second verb is the same jJWoi
as that of the first, the subjunctive is not used, an inhniti\
being substituted.
:
THE SUBJUNCTIVE 147
Estoy contento de verle a Vd. ** I am glad to see you.

Es extraño que Vd. haya llegado sano y salvo =
It is surpris-
ing that you (should) have arrived safe and sound.
3. Impersonal verbs, except those expressing certainty

I It
„ or marked probability, likewise require the subjunctive in
ier strong^
the subordinate class.
Es importante que lo hagamos luego = it is important that
we should do at once.
it
to
Es dudoso que logren llegar a tiempo »
it is doubtful
whether they will manage to arrive in time.
v the sub*
But es cierto que llegarán a tiempo
: »
it is certain that
they will arrive in time.
oo strc
Imeai 4. Similarly after verbs expressing denial, doubt or dis-

belief, the subjunctive is required. This applies also to
*e are give*
verbs of thinking used interrogatively, for the mere fact
that a question is asked shows that the speaker is in doubt,
and the subjunctive is the mood of doubt or uncertainty.
to help
But if the question relates to the future, not to the present
se that M£
)or past, the indicative is used.
= the judge- El prisionero niega que haya asesinado a su enemigo the«

prisoner denies that he has killed his enemy.
¿ Óree Vd. que le haya asesinado ? = do you Believe that
he killed him ?
But i Cree Vd. que le asesinará ?
: = do you believe that
he will kill him?
way,
5. Even after an ordinary relative pronoun the verb in the
esec(
relative clause will be in the subjunctive if the pronoun
dependent
refers to aperson or thing either unknown or not definitely
I m
known. 'That sounds vague, but consider this sentence
till rem
"I am looking for a servant who speaks Spanish
Assuming this to mean that the search is for a certain
sgovernei
>pe rson known to the speaker, who speaks Spanish, but is
etc
se»
mot to be seen for the moment, then the indicative is used
j
sdeadi ¡because the identity of the servant is known, and the

that he
hal <aentence would run Busco a un criado que habla español.
:
But supposing that the would-be employer is on the look-

out for a servant unspecified and unknown to him, perhaps,
indeed, non-existent, who happens to be able to speak
Spanish then obviously the quest is very uncertain, and
;
i 48 TEACH YOURSELF SPANISH
the subjunctive is needed. In this case, too, though it 0^
has nothing to do with the subjunctive, we shall find that con
the characteristic a before the object is omitted, the identity Felipe
of the person being so vague as to make him unworthy of no di
being distinguished from a thing. Thus we should write

¿icio,
Busco un criado que hable español.
r
Similarly, with indefinite expressions formed by addingIL su |
quiera to relative pronouns or adverbs the subjunctive is

wanted, and here there will very likely be a
14
may M in mneroi
the English to suggest the subjunctive to us. nichos
Quienquiera que sea «= whoever he (may) be fie enc
Cualquiera cosa que haya hecho =whatever he may have ¿ir de
done. Hado
Cuando quiera que lleguen = whenever they may arrive. mtiene
tinas
j
Translation XIII
El " Pueblo de las Mujeres " es una comedia muy di- acontT
vertida. Se refiere a un joven abogado de Madrid quien Uteal

viene a trabajar a un pequeño pueblo de Andalucía, I
Mientras pasea por las calles ve a una muchacha que pasa „, ce
Eor el otro lado, y da la coincidencia que se fija en que es tuves

onita. Esto es lo bastante para las habladoras mujeres I mac
del lugar. Ellas están convencidas que el abogado se ha
enamorado de esta muchacha y a pesar de sus negaciones
(de él), ellas insisten en afirmar que él desea casarse confer
ella. Le hablan tan a menudo de su supuesto asunto dc| ¿
amor, que termina por creer que quizá sería bastante y, m
agradable el casarse con ella y la comedia termina con su *
;
noviazgo.
Esta comedia es una entretenida y buena sátira de la (*„y i
£
vida provincial. Gracias a que conocía de antemano

obra, no encontré dificultad en apreciar sus agudezas y
sus encantos. Además los actores que desarrollaron I
principales papeles eran tan admirables que sus gestos
las expresiones de sus caras eran casi lo bastante pa
revelar el sentido de la comedia.
Era más de media noche cuando salí del teatro, pero
me sentía inclinado a irme a la cama. Hacía una n
estupenda. Las calles estaban muy bien iluminadas
anduve un rato mirando a los que pasaban y querienr1 " 3
THE SUBJUNCTIVE 149
*• to,
tbm recordar lo que yo sabía de la historia de esta ciudad, la
cual contiene alrededor de un millón de habitantes.
Felipe II fué quien estableció su corte en Madrid en 1561
e hizo de esta ciudad la capital de su reino. Fué el mismo
t
should
write :~ rey quien construyó el monasterio de El Escorial, ese gran
edificio, el cual decidí visitar al día siguiente. Los sucesores
ide Felipe II embellecieron la ciudad, sobre todo Carlos III.
the
subjunctive
De su tiempo datan la Academia de Bellas Artes y el
'be a "may
it
-museo del Prado en el cual se encuentran algunos de los
tons.
primeros trabajos de Velázquez y Goya; y sobre todo
muchos cuadros de El Greco, Murillo y Ribera. Tendría
que encontrar un rato para visitar el Prado. Antes de
e I salir de Inglaterra me dijeron que no dejara de ver el
Palacio Nacional situado en la Plaza de Oriente, el cual
tiey may arrive^ contiene entre otras cosas, la colección mas hermosa de
armas y armaduras del mundo.
Mientras tanto no tenía idea en qué parte de la ciudad me
. comedia muy di-
encontraba, pues caminé un rato largo después de salir
1 ¿e Madrid a
iel teatro. Al fin le pregunté a un señor (jue me dijera
i de Andaluci* ti mejor camino para volver al hotel. Me indicó un tranvía
chacha que past jue pasaba muy cerca de él (del hotel), esperé en la parada
ese fija ei
y tuve suerte de encontrar un asiento en un tranvía donde
¿ladoras mujerei ba muchísima gente.
el abogado
de sus nega
Vocabulary
desea casarse 'nquieto = uneasy. obispo = bishop.
supuesto; breciso « necessary. demandante = plaintiff.
•i <eria njuriar = to insult. acusado =accused.
imperdonable = unpardon- asombrarse {de) =
to be sur-
able. prised (at)
ena sátira
de Mliputado = deputy. convencer = to convince.
1 de antemano
Exercise 28
agudezas
ar sus
desarrollaron
I i. Old Maria is very uneasy. She is afraid that her
e
sus gestos
laughter may marry Mr. González. 2. I am sorry that you
i que
lave forgotten what I told vou last week. 3. I am wait-
ng for someone who may oe able to conduct me to the
pero .tation. 4. I am waiting for my cousin who has promised
del teatro,
unanocl o meet me here. 5. I do not wish to talk to that man.
Hacía
iluminadas
ie always asks me to lend him money. 6. The deputy
bien
vill propose that all shops be shut on Saturday. 7. It is
—
i5 o TEACH YOURSELF SPANISH

certain that the bishop will marry them. 8. It is necesi
that we reach the frontier before nightfall, o. We
sh¡
have to find him wherever he may have hidaen himselft 1
io. It is doubtful whether this actor is capable of playing

so important a part. II. I shall end by believing thaB*^'
you do not wish to help us. 12. Do you think that wi
shall be able to convince him ? 13. I will tell myclerk t
go at once to the Air Company's office. 14. Do you den;
that the accused has insulted the plaintiff in the most un
pardonable manner ? 15. We
are sorry that it is impossibl
yjj
for you to attend the performance. 16. I was glad t
notice that the theatre was full of people. 17. I will d
everything possible to see you again. 18. I am surprise *
at what has happened. 19. I am surprised that you hav ,!
not got used to working here. 20. I told them that I wa ?'
not hungry.
LESSON XXIX
THE SUBJUNCTIVE (continued)
In the last lesson attention was drawn to the use of th Ira

subjunctive after certain verbs. Now we must deal witl •aras)
the employment of this mood after certain conjunctions •ara
Here, however, it is necessary to remind ourselves that th

bios
subjunctive will only be used if there is any idea of doub ^rais)
or uncertainty in the dependent clause, or if the main verl

M -ran
has a definite causing " effect. For instance, in tfy

sentence :
" he drew up his troops so that they formed i it:
hollow square there is no subjunctive at all. The wholi sit

.
sentence is merely a statement describing a partícula 1

fcc
of
military formation. But in the sentence :

" he drew
his soldiers so that they should form a hollow square tflfeallyb
protect the supplies in the centre ", we have a very differ*
state of affairs, and the subjunctive would be required
With this proviso in mind, here is a list 01 the d
conjunctions requiring the use of the subjunctive :
Para que order that), de modo que (so that, in such

(in ;
way that), tanto aue (so much that), supuesto que (supposürf¿
that), dado que (granted that, assuming that), a condicr**
—
THE SUBJUNCTIVE (continued) 151
¡Liltisnece 'e (provided that), a menos que (unless), aunque

que
«walL
U7* Míen
5 ,ê _ although), no sea que (lest). One can add to these most
}¿¡¡ on junctions of time hasta que, después que, antes que
—
-»
Dften in the form antes de que) and so on

'-apable oí
playj provided that
t
bv
believing
ti he verb following has the idea of uncertainty, not of fact.
• pik that
*
-3' clerk ta Subjunctive Tenses formed from the Past
Do you
^14.
'
c Definite Stem
:
most 1
"
'".¿titisimpoaj
The imperfect, past and future subjunctives may all be
: <-
í was glad
Drmed from the past definite. All that has to be done is
drop the termination of the first person singular of the
r?, I will
)
I
and then add the endings given in the table
am surpriseí
ast definite,
~r
v1 that you' same rule holds good with irregular verbs.
elow. The
that In
they are irregular in the past definite, the same
t.
1
regularity is to be found in the stem of these three tenses

f the subjunctive.
Table of Terminations
Imperfect. Past, Future.
ar er & it ar er & ir ar er & ir
iwn to the use of J -ara -iera -ase -íese -are -iere
1 n mst deal wB (-aras) (-ieras) (-ases) (-ieses) (-ares) (-ieres)
.
;-jnjunctio| -ara -iera -ase -iese -are -iere
in'i ourselves t -áramos -iéramos -ásemos -iésemos -áremos -iéremos
té ay idea 0:
(-aráis) (-ierais) (-aséis) (-ieseis) (-aréis) (-iereis)
[the mail -aran -ieran -asen -iesen -aren -ieren
in
::r instance, M
•
formed
Except
in conditional ( if ") sentences, which will be
1 "Thewki
with in the next lesson, the imperfect tense and past
ealt
> -;¡os a
parfaP nse of the subjunctive (though, of course, not of the
dicative) are virtually interchangeable, the preference
he drew
square
;nerally being for the past subjunctive.
v
tverydiM
required.
Use of the Various Tenses of the Subjunctive
,-¿ ¿'De
^ a list
of the
<
We know now most of the occasions on which the sub-

,
injunctive
:~
nctive required in Spanish. But we have yet to find
is
it which particular subjunctive tense may be required,
m iSo
that,
in I
some cases there is no difficulty, the tense being readily
certainable from the English.
^thatM^
— — — — —

The matter may be summed up as follows :
M uk
1. When the main verb is in the present indicative, th<
I was s<
present subjunctive is used in the dependent clause whci ¡ate

the action described in this clause takes place at the sam<
time as, or after, that of the main verb : 5-
So- *
Siento que no pueda venir = I regret that he is unabh

main vei
to come.
Dudo que llegue hoy = I doubt whether he will com* 2
to-day.
2. The perfect subjunctive can only be used after a mair
verb in the present or future indicative, and denotes an mito
action completed before the time indicated by the mair BCfii
verb :
Le acompañaré a Vd. luego que haya acabado mi trabajo UnE

I will accompany you as soon as I have finished mj l-'I'i
work. Know
lctlono
Of course, if the speaker is quite certain that he wil
finish his work, he would say habré acabado (future perfed j^'
slr
indicative), the subjunctive indicating a possible doubt o: ,
his ability to do so.
Me asombro de que no haya llegado = lam surprised thai

he has not arrived.
they]
3. If the main verb

in the present tense, an imperfed
is hkri
or past tense subjunctive refers to something prior to th«
time indicated by the main verb :
Es posible que los Noruegos descubriesen América mu c hoi

años antes de la época de Cristobal Colón it is possibly = Bperative
that the Norwegians discovered America many yean|tt?oo

before the time of Christopher Columbus.
4. If the main verb is in the imperfect or past definite,

the'same tense of the subjunctive must refer to the same
time or to a subsequent time relative to the main verb.
This is difficult to express clearly in words, but examplei
should make the point plain : atte
I am afraid that he will not arrive temo que no llegué. =

I was afraid that he would not arrive yo temía que 4 =
no llegase.
— ——
THE SUBJUNCTIVE (continued) ^153
I am sorry that there is no one here =
siento que no haya
dicative,
nadie aquí.
the
I was sorry that there was no one there =
sentí que no
at the
hubiese nadie allí.
same
So, to indicate a time previous to that indicated by

5.
¡a is
mialfc
1 main verb
in the imperfect or past definite, the pluperfect
iubjunctive must be used. This is often, though not
ki will
COI*
nvariably, pointed to by the presence of " had " in the
inglish equivalent.
altera It seemed doubtful to me whether he ever wrote (had

I denoi written) that book = me parecía dudoso a mí que hubiese
by the mai escrito jamás aquel libro.
English we
my
6.
-g-
—In" I'm leaving
often use the present for the future,
tomorrow " for " I shall leave to-
But if such a phrase is preceded by a con-
norrow
unction of time, the future indicative in Spanish would be
that he wí
im>n S' since the future being uncertain, the subjunctive is
¿perfeS
j needed
• •
cuando llegue (not llego or llegará). Sometimes
:
he future subjunctive, not the present, may be needed.

Compare the following :
Le hice saber lo que habían dicho =

I let him know what
they had said.
anim] Le haré saber lo que dijeren =
I will let him know what
1 prior they (may, will) say. (The conversation has not yet
taken place, so that its purport is uncertain.)
The use of the subjunctive as a substitute for the
. it is
p
uperative has already been dealt with. There remain one
r two other cases where the subjunctive is used without
ny governing verb. For instance, such expressions as
k
come what may " =
venga lo que viniere. ¡ Plugue a
Xos I (may it) please God !
In a direct command the present subjunctive is used for

sa|
?r to the
vj
he main tie imperative :Entren Vds. When it is indirect i.e.,
but exam] ransmitted in the form of instructions to a third person
(
lie subjunctive is preceded by que :

—
Que no entre nadie = let no one come in.
The first person plural imperative "let us " is also
^
IM TEACH YOURSELF SPANISH

obtained from the subjunctive. Let us run ~
corramos fe
Let us hide ourselves =

ocultémonos. Note that this person
of the imperative of ir is irregular, vamos (not vayamos) ,
but in the other persons vaya, vayan.

^ WflC
Translation XIV ês
El Escorial es un edificio sorprendente. Se encuentra 8 linv

alguna distancia de Madrid y está rodeado de enorme* icdad
montañas. Antes de ir allí, hice cuanto pude por aprendei pav

algo de su historia. Llegó a ser construido como sigue :
j uto
En el siglo diez y seis se libró una batalla cerca de!

pueblo francés de San Quintín. Durante la contienda, la
artillería española destruyó una iglesia dedicada a Sar.
Lorenzo, y Felipe II. hizo voto de construir un monasterio feto
en honor de este Santo. Les ordenó a sus arquitectos k$

construir el edificio en forma de parrilla, para commemorai
la manera cómo San Lorenzo fué martirizado. Un edificio
en la fachada Este, el cual servía de residencia real, representa
el asa de la parrilla, y las barras de la misma están :.H
representadas por edificios que se extienden en líneas rectal v. h(
en el interior del cuadro formado por las paredes. La hkt!

parte exterior contiene no menos de 1,100 ventanas y i; frss
puertas. Sobre la puerta principal se erige una estatua d< key hi
San Lorenzo. Esta entrada da acceso al Patio de los i

Reyes y más lejos se encuentra una iglesia de granito jhtfa
coronada por una enorme bóveda. En esta iglesia hay 4Í bid
altares, y en la capilla principal están las estatuas dé» in
Felipe II. y otros monarcas españoles. tshi
Debajo del altar mayor está el panteón donde muchoAnon

de los reyes de España descansan (están enterrados). Vi feel 1
los departamentos reales, incluyendo la sencilla y lúgubre ig¡

habitación donde murió Felipe II., en 1598. ContempM i
innumerables cuadros y obras de arte de todos los géneros. ¡2:
Sin embargo, y a pesar del esplendor del edificio, toda la 1

atmósfera del lugar es indescriptiblemente triste y parece ij|
reflejar el fríoy atormentado espíritu del hombre que le la S

uj
construyó. Costó una suma inmensa y tardaron 22 año* ¡
en completarlo. Era un edificio imponente, pero no im ^

satisfizo tanto como otras cosas que vi en Madrid.
Manzanares, a orillas del cual Madrid está situado, no
un río importante. Sobre todo en verano se reduce a uflfc^,
^
.
m THE SUBJUNCTIVE (continued) 155

irán
liminuto riachuelo, pero hay sobre él uno o dos preciosos
* that this-
mentes, y en las proximidades algunas magníficas iglesias
* (not mi
datan del siglo XVII.
[ue
Pero lo que más llamó mi atención fué el Retiro, un
>arque parecido al de Bois de Boulogne de Paris con lagos,
uentes y jardín Zoológico, además de espaciosas avenidas,
See
ín invierno hace a menudo mucho frío en Madrid, pues la
ia
:° ^ enormes iiudad está a 635 metros sobre el nivel del mar. Pero en
pwe por aprender
mima vera y en otoño es delicioso y decidí volver allí tan
too como
sigue
: . pronto como tuviera una oportunidad,
batalla cerca
ddf
Vocabulary
i dedicada a San ordenar = to order, restituir =
to give back.
*îr un monasterio listo = ready, in readiness. de madrugada =
early (in
a sus arquitecto! luego que = as soon as. the morning).
.para conmemorar darse prisa = to hurry up. en caso de [que) =
in case.
izado. Uneffide
r¿-na real,
Exercise 29
representa
e la misma estái He
ordered his servant to wake him early, in order
1.
ien en líneas red;t| hat he should have time to finish his work. 2. Do you
1
paredes,
¡ai hink that it is going to rain ? 3. Let us go to the theatre,
[oo ventanas y r nless you prefer to stay at home. 4. I was glad that
ige una estatua hey had not forgotten what I had said to them. 5. He
) al Patio de
sked me to hurry up, for he wanted us to arrive before
ightfall. 6. He told me that it was important that we
[Utfl
esta nay hould hurry up, in case it should rain. 7. Let everything
iglesia
las estatuas
e in readiness for when he returns. 8. I will lend you
in
mf shoes on condition that you give them back to me

eón donde wáá
o-morrow. 9. He promised to send me the book as soon
enterrados).
s he had read it. 10. When he had read the newspaper
i
e gave it to me. 11. Until I have received a letter from
Contempl he " boss I shall stay here. 12. We were surprised
13. We feared that she
i"-q8
génerc
- hat he had not written to us.
los
todos
14. Do everything that he may tell you.
p
>as ill.
I
15.
edificio,
16. Do
leí
will walk through the streets until I meet him.
Éetriste y
hombre
ou suppose that she has fallen in love with him ? 17. It
del
22 alM
j possible that I shall buy a house in Burgos. 18. It is
cardaron
ossible that he used to live in the United States. 19. As
nente,peronoi—
Madno.
oon as he is dead I suppose that his house will serve as a
vi en
no
luseum. 20. He worked zealously in order that his
situado,
está
a'
hildren should not die of hunger.
ano se re*
— —
i
it,
cepti
LESSON XXX pperf
CONDITIONAL SENTENCES
The primary function of the conditional is to denote
futurity dating from a past time, just as the future indicative
denotes futurity relative to the present. This sounds like
mere verbiage, but example will make matters clear :
¿
Le prometo a Vd. que ella lo hará = I promise you that
she will do it. wild
Le prometí a Vd. que ella lo haría = I promised you that nidi
she would do it. i fc
The conditional, in this application of it, is thus always %

dependent on some past tense. One
The commonest translation of the conditional is ~ :üv :
" should " or " would ". But this is not a safe guide, rm
since " should " or " would " may often be the translation
of a verb in the subjunctive, in which case, naturally, the
conditional cannot be used e.g. : m
Mi
I was afraid that he would drop (let fall) the bottle
temía que ü dejase (not dejaría) caer la botella.
The most important use of the conditional, however, is -14
if " clauses.
11
in Now, the very fact that a sentence begins *®
with " if " implies negation. The verb in the " if " clause pios
therefore will be in the subjunctive, and the " should " or «vfí
" would " in the other part of the sentence will be rendered âd(
by the conditional :
— 1 i
St yo fuese Vd. no lo haría =

if I were you (but I am not)
I wouldn't do it.
Si le hubiera visto, le habría hablado =
if I had seen
(but I didn't) I would have spoken to him.

But si ¿l viene, le hablaré
: =
if he comes I will spe,
lei
to him.
Wi
(It might be argued that his coming is uncertain, but afta]
(if) cannot take the present subjunctive or the futu:
indicative. Hence the present indicative is required S lift
meaning " whether " it can be followed by the subjunctive.)

It was stated in the previous lesson that the imperfect
—— — —
CONDITIONAL SENTENCES 157
ind past subjunctives are interchangeable. There is one

exception to this. For convenience we will refer to the
mperfect Subjunctive ara or i era as the " r " form and
o the Past Subjunctive ase or iese as the " s " form.
CSS
¿nal is
is we know, in the " if " clause involving the subjunctive,
to
ve can use either the " r " or the " s " form.
(
:e future
indicativi
Tte
si tuviera [tuviese) dinero: if I had money. In the com-
sounds u
"Otters clear
1
pleting clause would (should) " is hkely to occur in

inglish, and in Spanish we can use the conditional.
promise yon tí tuviera (tuviese) dinero, lo compraría
si — if I had money I
vould buy it. As an alternative to this conditional we

promised you I ould use the " r " form of the subjunctive, but not the
"
s " form. In the " if " clause either: in the other the " r
•t, is thus alwaji imly. So si tuviera (tuviese) dinero, lo comprara.
One last word. This substitution of the imperfect sub-
"
unctive for the conditional applies, quite apart from " if
sot a safe guide, entences, to one or two common verbs. How often we
••'•••:iot
ind ourselves beginning a sentence with: " I should like
*aie, natorallv. the
0" One translation we have used is the impersonal
I
te gustaría (mucho). But quite the best one is quisiera

used for the conditional querría).
fall) the bottle
Translation XV
tional, however,
El día de mi marcha llegó. Por la mañana salí a dar un
jjlâseo final por la ciudad y compré algunos pequeños
be;
t a sentence
egalos para mis padres.
usf
Después me hice cortar el pelo,
in the"
/olví al hotel, hice la maleta y tomé el almuerzo. Había
lthe"sl
ornado mi billete la víspera y, temprano, por la tarde,
ice will 1:
âgué mi cuenta y con gran pena cogí un taxi para dirigirme

jk estación del Norte. Esta vez no conseguí un departa-
vou (but am lento para mí solo. Dos hombres estaban sentados ya
I
,o;
uno de ellos hablaba incesantemente a su compañero

'
II
íhii
cerca de automóviles. No hacía mucho tiempo él había
tot omprado un coche de segunda mano y había ido de viaje
*P | .esde Madrid hacia el Sur de España.
eal
Por lo que yo pude
ntender, el viaje no había sido un éxito. Los frenos del
oche no funcionaban bien. Había tenido un accidente,
^ uncertain,
>s neumáticos estallaron y por último se metió en una
tiveorthefottj
uñeta de la carretera. El otro hombre comenzó a hablar
ative m Jr
is
¡
?(
su vez acerca de negocios. Al parecer era agente de

subjun
bv the
that
the n
15» TEACH YOURSELF SPANISH
bolsa y habló de dividendos y acciones y de la depresión
económica. Terminó por leer en voz alta una carta del
There i
director de una sociedad anónima agregada. Su compañero,

procuraba escuchar atentamente mientras leía un periódico
y yo miraba por la ventana. El otro continuaba hablando
cuando volví del vagón-restaurant después de comer, pero ha
íx,
por fortuna bajaron en Irún, ciudad fronteriza. Dormí
!For"fi
bastante bien y me desperté cuando estábamos cerca de
"
is ai
París. Cuando llegamos, tuve justamente tiempo para
coger un taxi e ir a la Gare du Ñord para coger el barco-
tren, y llegamos a Dover poco después de las cinco. Me
parecía extraño estar de vuelta en Inglaterra. Un hombre
que viajaba en el mismo vagón aue yo a Londres, viendo lafl \
etiquetas de mi maleta, me habló de España. Le dije que

lo había pasado admirablemente allí y quería volver, pues
había muchas cosas interesantes que quería ver.
L
" Por una cosa," dije, " porque no he visto la Alhambra.'
Un obrero que estaba en el asiento de enfrente, en una
esquina, sonrió. " No lo podrá ver Vd. ahora. Es muy
difícil reconocer Leicester Square, hoy día. Han de-
"
rrumbado la Alhambra. En su lugar hay un Cine !
If you
NOTE ON THE PARTICIPLES Í we si
The student may have noticed that in the foregoing pages

reference has been made to a word ending in -ando ot year
art
-iendo as the gerund or present participle.

The truth is that the present participle in its strict form
has almost disappeared from the language, existing only m the
in the form -ante or -ente, and then only as an adjective (01
occasionally a noun) —
that is, without any participial force
\
e.g., interesante (interesting) ; cesante (a man who has lost

his post).
But such a phrase as " interesting himself deeply
:
would be interesándose mucho (not inter esántese, which

does not exist). In other words, the -ando or -iendo wordfl
combine the rólesof participle and gerund. Or, mow
simply, words in "-ing ", other than adjectives or infinitives
Ler
(after certain prepositions), will be rendered in Spanist

of t
by a word in -ando or -iendo.

—
NOTE ON THE PARTICIPLES 159
1
The Past Participle
f ^ carta
di
There are a certain number of verbs with two forms
Sucompa
Ma imperii or the past participle. In such cases the irregular one
""xnnnaba
habl
t.#., not ending in -ado or -ido —
is only an adjective, and is
comer,
lot used in the formation of a tense. For instance, fijar
pao
" "'"^ fix, has fijado (ves.) and fijo (irreg.).
Dormí
For " fixea prices '
fijo could be used, because the word
—
; f
cerca
de
"
:
^po
itere is an adjective as in low (high} prices. But in the
pari
coger el bai
»hrase " having fixed his attention fixed has a verbal
' ,
fcfci
1
orce, and fijado would be used.
cinco, Mí
â^
]
Unhomh
Other " adjective " past participles are atento (atender),
hiendo
on fuso (confundir), excluso (excluir), oculto (ocultar), tuerto
las
Redije que
torcer). But these verbs aU have their regular past par-
' iciple as well, and any possible confusion is lessened by the
volver,
act that in many cases the two forms would not be rendered
'
a English by exactly the same word for instance, distinto

:
1 quite
" distinct " from distinguido (distinguished).
e, en w
Es muy
Exercise 30
Han di-
1. should like to have my hair cut, but we must hurry.

I
. If you were a stockbroker, we should have plenty of
much) money. 3. If you had not bought a second-hand
ar, we should already have arrived at Barcelona. 4. I
iras afraid that we should have to start before breakfast.
[Ml am glad to be back in England, but I shall go to Spain

é or iext year if I have enough money. 6. If I had not cut
ay foot, I would have come with you. 7. We shall just
-iV in its strict
form üave time to go and see them. 8. He has just returned
existing onl rom the United States, after spending three years in
'
e (or few York. 9. What would you do if you were governor

•
:
'f.rce if the province ? 10. If you had asked me for my overcoat,
man*
lost would have given it to you.
i
deeply
himself
o*
CONCLUSION
With this lesson we have come to the end of the road, or

jectivesor
its
ather of the modest stretch of it which this book set out
rendered"
o cover. It is to be hoped that, as a result of the explana-
S n

tions given, the surface has been smoothed sufficiently tc
enable the student to continue his route without getting tyan
footsore. If he feels disposed to continue his journey, an to¡
interesting road lies ahead of him. Before setting out, i

¡erra a
however, he must bear in mind that this book, by its very re two
nature, is not exhaustive. In particular, he must be pre-

pared to find that the order of words in Spanish, especially wit
in the relative positions of subject, verb and object, is much

fl
more variable than the foregoing pages have indicated. style ai
At the point now reached a dictionary would be useful.! c¿largir
There are a number of these, ranging from small pocketi ion oí
ones to A Modem Spanish Dictionary, published by the passage
English Universities Press at 455. There are also some i^tii
good Spanish Grammars, the most comprehensive known

to me being Ramsey's Spanish Grammar, marketed in
England by G. Bell & Sons, Ltd., at, I think, 22s. 6d. There J'
Vale
is also an admirable book, Harmer & Norton's Manual oj &#

Modern Spanish (University Tutorial Press, 15s.). die lan
I think, however, that, armed with resolution, a dictionary At al
and what he has already learned, he should be able to go hA

ahead. In that case he cannot do better than read as Iwill
many Spanish books as he can. The classics of any fenslat
language, of course, are always worth reading. But modern 1
Spanish differs a good deal from the tongue of Cervantes, kis
and I would recommend the student to concentrate, to ¡So,,
his own enjoyment and profit, on something more recent.

Among the novels, those of Palacio Valdés, especially
La Hermana San Sulpicio and Marta y María, are well
worth reading. They are published in Madrid by the firm
of Suárez, but are readily obtainable in England from such
firms as the Librairie Hachette (127 Regent Street, W.i)
or The Dolphin Book Co., Ltd., 14 Fy field Road, Oxford,
the proprietors of which latter are agents for all Spanish
publishing houses.
The novels of Blasco Ibañez, though a little more difficult
on occasion, by reason of the use of provincial dialect,
should certainly be read, especially Los Cuatro Jinetes del
Apocalipsis, Sangre y Arena, Arroz y Tartana and Los
Enemigos de la Mujer. Then there are the delightful
Pepita Jiménez by Juan Valera, and El Sombrero de In
Picos and El Final de Norma, both by P. A. de Alarcón,
CONCLUSION 161
Some of the historical novels of Galdós, too, are interest-

ing, and anyone who wants practice in reading dialogue
could not do better than read the plays of Benavente,
Sierra and the brothers Quintero. Azorín and Pío Baroja
^ by its J are two others whose works will well repay reading.
^ must bejp^ Messrs. Harrap have published a series of stories at 35. 6d.
NA, especial with the Spanish on one page and the English version
& object, is miKj opposite. Such books are decidedly useful for studying
vindicated, style and turns of phrase. A more ambitious means of
would be
enlarging one's knowledge of a language is to buy a transla-
'
useful
pocket tion of some well-known work, and then turn a selected

¿y the passage into Spanish, subsequently comparing the version
R with that of the original Spanish. The experience is liable
are also son
pMBsiYe knowjto be a little depressing at first, but it is extremely valuable.
marketed But the student would be well advised to choose a work
ii
Ther| by Valera or Ibañez (their books have been translated into

English) rather than Don Quijote, for instance, in which
the language is to some extent obsolete.
.
At all events, there is no lack of good Spanish books to
a dictionary
cdd be able to read. The great thing is to read as much as possible, and
tit will not be very long before the student finds himself not
ttf than read al
I of 4
'lassies
[translating mentally as he goes along, but actually thinking
But moden ^
Spanish. Should he arrive successfully at that stage,
Cervante!
this book will have more than fulfilled its intended purpose,
f
céntrate t
So, amigo mío, vaya Vd. con Dios.
1 Ifffv, are i
Madrid by the fid
£a*land from 1
eeent Street
iád Road,
C
ill Spanii
:
little
more i
MH
1
are
the M and
Alarcón;
p 1 de
PART II j
i,¡N
¿
Dón
jtienei
KEY TO EXERCISES AND TRANSLATIONS l¡Nol
Exercise I i, In
wi
(a)nosotros.
i. 2. tú. 3. ellos. vosotros.
4. 5. yo,
train
6. nosotros. 7. ellos. 8. él. 9. vosotros. 10. tú. fea>

palace i
(b) 1. trabaj-an. 3. habl-amos. 4. and-áis.

toc-as. 2. peral
«>. pas-a. 6. dejar-emos. 7. trabajar-ás. 8. vivir-é. 9 tur bol
hablar-án. 10. comprar-éis. laven't
reten
(c) yo compro yo compraré,
rive in
tú compras tú comprarás,
íythfi
él compra élcomprará,
Dose,
nosotros compramos nosotros compraremos,
ra my
vosotros compráis vosotros compraréis,
here
ellos compran ellos comprarán. isi
Exercise 2(a)
The boy has a book. 2. The house has a door. 3,
1.
The friend will buy an apple. 4. Haven't you a table?
5. They haven't a book.
Isoldai
6. Will you take the apple? 7 injerto
I haven't a horse. 8. Shall we buy the table? 9. The
woman hasn't a house. 10. When will he buy the book? bod
Üosotrn
Exercise 2(b)
Nosotros tenemos una casa. 2. ¿No tiene Vd. un
1.
libro? 3. El muchacho tomará la manzana. 4. La mujer''
Iplaí
compra Ta casa. 5. ¿Tenéis vosotros un caballo? 6. La)
ft
casa no tiene una puerta. 7. Ellos tienen una casa.
cat
8.
¿No tomarán Vds. el libro? 9. ¿Tenemos (nosotros) una
mesa ? 1 10. El hombre no tiene una casa.
Esotros
1
Note though the subject pronouns are frequently omitted
that,
when there is no possibility of misunderstanding, I'd. and Vds. must
always be retained, because owing to their original meaning (Your
Honour(s)) they are really nouns. ilicli
i
162
EXERCISES 163
Exercise 2(c)
1. ¿ No tiene ella la alfombra ? 2. Vd. tomará el hacha.
3. Dónde compraré yo el agua ? 4. El hombre y la mujer
¿
no tienen un caballo. 5. ¿ Tomaremos nosotros una hacha ?

^NSLATIONi 6. ¿ No tiene Vd. una alfombra ?
Exercise 3(a)
1. In the centre of the city there is a square. 2. The
t vosotros,
j,
train will arrive immediately at the station. 3; The man
tai 10, tí, takes a cup of coffee with his friends. 4. Our king has a
palace in the city. 5. We
have fifteen books. 6. The
torn 4. and-
general arrives in the train with his wife. 7. Have you
-'•is. 8. vivir-é.
your bottle of wine? 8. I will speak to friends. my
9.
Haven't you my
hat ? 10. In the station of our city there
i are ten trains. 11. The woman and her husband will
sprarli
1 arrive immediately in their car. 12. In the square of our
iprari
city there is a church. 13. We
have ten rooms in our
house. 14. When shall we arrive at Madrid? 15. Have
ronjprarem
:ompraréis
you my
friend's books ? 16. He will buy your house. 17.
arparán.
There isn't water in my
bottle (or, there is no water). 18.
\ My friend and his wife have a house in the square of the city.
Exercise 3(b)
case has a da
1. Mi abuelo toma una taza de café con su mujer. 2.
iven't you a table
El soldado no tiene su botella de vino. 3. Mi amigo y su
mujer tomarán luego el tren. 4. Su amigo (but, better, el
amigo de Vd.) tiene una casa con ocho habitaciones. 5.
(Nosotros) llegaremos a Madrid en nuestro automóvil. 6.
Hay doce casas en la calle. 7. Ella comprará (unas)
manzanas. 8. ¿Tiene Vd. vino en su botella? 9. Com-
,
¡So tiene Vd, 1
praremos una casa en el centro de la ciudad donde hay

una plaza. 10. Tienen dos automóviles, el médico tiene
mn caballo? M seis caballos, n. ¿No comprará Vd. mi casa? 12.
ue
r n una
f
casa,
¿Cuándo tomará Vd. su sombrero ? 13. Las mujeres y sus
¿os (nosotros) maridos tomarán el tren. 14. Los reyes tienen sus palacios,
i
caía.
nosotros tenemos nuestras casas. 15. Yo hablaré a mi
nittl
marido y a 1 sus amigos. 16. ¿ No comprará Vd. 2 (unos)
1
In Spanish the preposition should be repeated before each noun
?mil meaning
(ic
to which it refers.
*The pronoun subject of a Spanish verb is generally omitted if the
i6 4 TEACH YOURSELF SPANISH
lápices? 17. ¿Dónde hay una iglesia? 18. Compraré h jí
5
casa de Vd. (su casa, if the meaning is quite clear), tien<

siete habitaciones. 1
Exercise 4(a)
1. I have not watch you wish to buy. 2. W<
(got) the i.
No
(have) sold Charles's book yesterday. 3. I have writtei seowi
five letters to-day. 4. I haven't enough money to buj If

wine. 5. My brother has not arrived at Madrid.
Don't you wish to buy the doctor's car? 7. Have yov
seen the king ? 8. We
have spent the four pesetas that J
(have) found to-day. 9. We

will look for the general*! 1.11
daughter. 10. Have you not seen the knife which I lost Él
in one of the rooms of your house? 11. I will call th< rhert
boy who is talking in the street with John's uncle. 12 ni

Do you want to buy some newspapers? I have a peseta recei'
in my pocket. 13. The generals have missed the train. 1 tía
Have you seen the soldiers who have arrived from Madrid ¡ Mow.
15. I have sold my books and I have enough money to buy oi

two bottles of wine. 16. When did he write to his brother? it
17. The woman has sent a letter to her son who has a house u;
in Bilbao. 18. I am looking for the newspaper which Johi hia;
has lost. m
¿El
Exercise 4(b)
¿Tiene Vd. periódicos? 2. ¿Ha comprado Vd. los
1.
relojes? 3. ¿No han vendido ellos sus automóviles? 4j ^
El hombre quiere llamar a su mujer. 5. ¿Ha visto Vd
tío del médico? 6. ¿Tiene Vd. bastante dinero en
bolsillo para comprar manzanas ? 7. ¿ Ha visto Vd. |_
a Juan? 8. ¿Busca Vd. a su hermano? 9. ¿Mandará
meaning is clear. But it is never wrong to insert the pronoun, and I-

~
it must be put in when there is emphasis on it or contrast betwi
one pronoun and another. Remember, also, that however clear ¡4
meaning may be. Ustsd and Ustedts can nkvbr be omitted, because,
fcti
strictly speaking, they are really nouns and not pronouns at all.
Id,
1
Notice that with such a word as habitación, the accent mark .
CI
disappears in the plural, as, owing to the addition of ts, the stress
^
Jl
fallsaccording to rule.
1
When we say " Will you have some tea ? ", there is no idea of
:
futurity the meaning is

: Would you like ? " or " Do you want ? M
:
'
EXERCISES 163
Compraré!
Buscaré el periódico que ha perdido Vd. 1 12.
IX
to*
£ Cuándo ha visto Vd. a los soldados ? 13. El tío de Juan
Íue llegará hoy de Madrid, ha perdido su dinero. 14.
engo en mi casa diez libros que Vd. quiere comprar. 15.
Yo tomaré las diez pesetas que tiene Vd. en su bolsillo.
I
*H
tn hit
2, W(
T 6. No he tomado el periódico de Vd. (su would not make
17. ¿ No quiere Vd. llamar a Carlos ?
have writta
the ownership clear) .
jD money to b r s. ¿No ha visto Vd. a la muchacha? 19. ¿A dónde ha

* at
m. i candado Vd. a la mujer?
7- Have yoj
;asthati
Exercise 5(a)
1 lor the generafi
1. The man you saw is a shopkeeper. 2. The blue bottle
bought 3. My brothers are
* oife which I k ¡(which) I is full of water.
11.
1
will call t
¡íicherthan the doctor. 4. Our cook is lazy she does not
:
3 uncle, iifurork 5. Spanish women are always talkative.

much. 6.
e a peseta [ received to-day a letter from my daughter she is in :
rain,
14 (Barcelona. 7. Is the poor
2
woman married ? She is a
unMadriJI nridow. 8. The pupils are in the school, listening to the
ajh money to buj yearned professor. 9. The workmen who are working in
irite to his brother) rthe fields are not very industrious. 10. The streets of
'<onwhohasahoua many Spanish cities are very narrow. 11. I will listen
•paper which Joij co-day to the little birds which sing in the fields. 12.
Where is the daughter of the brave ó-eneral X? 13. She
* in England with her mother, who always likes to travel.
£4. The shopkeeper has no (lit. does not have) cheap
1 comprado Vd, la matches they are all (of) gola. 15. The daughter of my
:
ra automóviles? ( jood friend Charles is very pretty. 16. A great French

;
j Ha visto Vd. ¿ 'general has arrived here (in order) to visit the king. 17.
•Ve dinero en t Do you not wish to visit the palace of the Spanish kings ?
fía visto
Vd hoj t8. My uncle is a farmer. He is not rich, but he is always
¿0? 9.
¿Manda f&appy. 19. The workmen are not polite, but they are very
1
-omar una taza ( iikilful. 20. The famous palace you are looking for is in
- King St.
pronoun,
sert the
1 it or CL —
that
however clear ti
jfn such cases the verb querer (to wish, want) is employed, and not
etc.} the verb

,
the accent
mm Jixen comes Deiore tne suDiect. it sounds Detter, but it is not a
* '
the stri deadly crime to follow the English order, particularly at this fairly
of #5,
Q
tlementary stage.
.r there is
1
no H
Pobre before the noun means wretched, unfortunate ; after it
want^naan8 poverty-stricken
r or "
Do y° u
0]
Exercise 5(b)
i. Las calles de la ciudad son largas. 2. Hoy he
trabajado mucho, pero no estoy cansado. 3. El caballo
blanco del obrero es pequeño. 4. No he visto a su hermano.
¿Dónde está? 5. Está en Inglaterra con su gran (de)
amigo. Viaja mucho cuando tiene bastante dinero. 6. Los
pájaros que cantan en los campos son muy hermosos. 7. anca (
Mi tío es un hombre docto, pero es holgazán. 8. Nuestra fe leído
cocinera no está aquí está en la iglesia que ha visitado po.

:
Vd. hoy. 9. Vino blanco es mejor que café negro. 10,

La hija de ella no es casada. 11. Los hombres que están pan is
en los campos son siempre felices. 12 La iglesia es pequeña mero

.
[
pero muy hermosa. 13. Las botellas que han comprado Esde 1
Vds. están llenas de agua. 14. Escucho los pájaros sus

: 7 a su 1
voces son muy melodiosas. 15. ¿ Dónde está la hija bonita

del labrador? 16. Buenos libros son baratos aquí. 17
Soldados alemanes están en la ciudad. 18. Obreros
franceses son muy aplicados. 19. Somos médicos, mi|Émai
hermano es de Madrid, pero yo soy de Bilbao. 20. La m i
hermosa Inglesa no habla español, pero ha aprendido francés, itoan

bo ha
Exercise 6(a) 1
"ere c<
1.
book
The apples which
is mine, that
are on the table are mine.
is my
brother's.
2. This
3. These pencils are
m
better than yours. 4. There are many (mucho, much,
muchos, many) books in my room the ones I bought this
:
morning are on the bed. 5. Do you want this newspaper

or that? 6. A relation of mine is in Madrid. 7. Have per?
you seen Charles? Two friends of his will arrive to-day that is
from Barcelona. 8. That car is not mine, it is John's^

9. That shopkeeper is richer than this one. 10. Where is
my horse? Ours is here, yours is in the stable. 11. W<
are very pleased to-day two cousins of ours have arrived
:
here from England. 12. Is this bottle mine? No, it'a

hers. 13. My father and his (yours) have worked all day
in the fields. 14. My house and our neighbours' are small.
15. Have you lost your handkerchief? No, this is mine,
fin]
16. Here are two watches; this is mine, that is yours.
17. I have given the money to Lewis and a friend of his.
m
18. My dog and hers are in the street. 19. Is this car
:
EXERCISES 167
ours or yours? 20. Your horse and your servant's are in the
stable.
:
Hoy In
El
caballo Exercise 6(b)
i
hermanó,
Estas manzanas son mías, ésas son de Vd. 2. Su voz
1.
(de ella added, if context is not clear) es más melodiosa que
1
granfde)
3. Un vecino nuestro tiene una casa

[ °'
Loi la de su hermana.
6,
*->m,
blanca con un tejado azul. 4. He leído mis cartas. No
j,
3-
Nuestra
he leído las de Vd. 5. El reloj de oro, que Vd. ha hallado,
es mío. 6. El dinero que he gastado es de Juan.
"-a
7. Carlos
visitado
agro,
llegará aquí con dos amigos suyos.
io,
8. La criada ha perdido
i
que
mis pañuelos pero no los de Vd. 9. No tengo bastante
es
espequei dinero para comprar este auto ése es más barato. 10. :
.compr
I
Es de Vd. este periódico ? 11. ¿ Ha visto Vd. al labrador
ijaros: su
y a su hijo? Son amigos nuestros. 12. Estas manzanas
iüja
bonita son mejores que las que he comprado esta mañana. 13.
1} Dos parientes suyos han comprado aquella casa. 14.
aquí.
:. Obren Nuestra cocinera y la de nuestro vecino no quieren trabajar

íédicos, i esta mañana. 15. Mi sombrero y el de Vd. están sobre la
.
b mesa. 20.16. Este no es mi libro, es de ella.
i 17. Hemos
¡áoíranck visto a nuestra madre pero no a 1 la de ella. 18. Un vecino
mío ha vendido su casa quiere comprar la mía. 19. No :
quiere comprar libros los que tiene son buenos. 20. ¿ Es

:
.e. Tü de Vd. el caballo que está en la cuadra ?

2,
; rncils an
icio.
Exercise 7(a)
1. Which of my books have you read? The one which
is on the table in your room. 2. What did you say to the
lawyer? 3. How many streets are there in this city? 4.
m tal What is the your room? 5. Which pencils are
number of
i is Jota'i mine ? These or those ? 6. We have lost the train. What
Where' a pity 7. What a pretty girl
1 Who is she ? 8. She is
I
)le.
ii. the daughter of a friend of mine. 9. Why haven't you
j
;
¿ve arnví finished your work? 10. Of what are you talking? Of
>; No, if matters which you do not understand. 11. Whose cows
irkeda
are those which are in that field? (They are) Charles's.
rs'
are
12. Where do you come from? From Madrid, but I live
this is
nüfl now in Burgos. 13. Who lives in your cousin's house?
iati
My uncle lives there, but my aunt is in England. 14. This
friend
oí W 1
The pronoun la stands for a person, so the preposition a is re-
Is
this 4 quired, as before madre earlier in the sentence.
;

French officer always drinks white wine. 15. How much i
money have you in your purse? 16. To whom are you fecit
writing? To the doctor's son. 17. Those (the peojofe)

I
who are drinking in the inn are not my friends

train has left the station. 19. I wish to see the king, w
ball
Where is his palace? 20. This soldier is very fond of

is sold
(loves much) the cook, but she is married. êse
Excercise 7 (b) IM
A
cuál de los oficiales ha hablado Vd. esta mañana?
jé
1. 1
A aquél. 2. ¿ Cuál de estos autos es de Vd. ? Este. 3 sswel
¿De quién son esos caballos? No son míos. 4. ¿A cuál

de sus hijos ha visto Vd. ? 5. ¿ Por qué no está Vd. traba-
Lb
jando? No trabajo porque estoy cansado. 6. Quiero ver
¡No
al abogado. ¿Dónde está? No está aquí. 7. El pájaro
So sc
está cantando en el jardín. Qué voz tan melodiosa
¡
8, I
¿A qué hombre quiere Vd. hablar? 9. ¿Cuál de las vacas

ha comprado Vd. ? La blanca. 10. He dado cinco pesetas
Karen
a aquel labrador que está bebiendo en la posada con su hijo,
11. Somos madrileños, pero vivimos en Santander.
pedar;
12.
Ella está escribiendo a su primo. 13. Qué hombre
\
Ha I
bebido cinco botellas de vino. 14. Tengo dos hermanas y

un hermano. 15. ¿Cuántas iglesias hay en esta ciudad?
16. Ella tiene dos hijos. El que escribe a su amigo, es
médico. 17. Dónde está el general ? Está trabajando en pitras
su jardín. 18. Hay muchos trenes que salen de esta esta ,n
19. Aquellos hombres no viven aquí. Son de so

ción.
Valencia (or, son valencianos). 20. ¿A cuántos obreros ha fel
visto Vd. en los campos ? K
qui s(
Exercise 8(a) tenti
1. These men are stronger than you. 2. Isn't this sub
woman older than that one? 3. This beer is good; it is

better than your white wine. 4. We have received less
than five pesetas. 5. He spends more money than he says.
6. Is your car cheaper than ours? 7. We shall sell our
house it is very small. 8. These workmen are lazier than
; 'In?
the ones who work in your garden. 9. My brother is in

Madrid. To-morrow I shall be there too. 10. If you sell
'Ids
those books you will have enough money to buy the ones fet
anc
you want. 11. My friend will remain here more than a

EXERCISES 169
week. 1
12. One of my clerks is in my office I have not
:
seen the others this morning. 13. We have churches in

this city larger than those of Madrid. 14. That lawyer is
richer than the doctor. His house has more than twelve
1 rooms. 15. To-morrow I shall be very tired, because I
shall work all day in the fields. 16. The general says that
I his soldiers will not remain here more than two days. 17.
These apples are not good; they are worse than yours.
18. When will you write to your cousin ? 19. The rich are
not always happier than the poor. 20. My neighbours are
less well off than they say.
Exercise 8(b)
1.La hija de Vd. es más bonita que aquella muchacha.
2. ¿No es más grande la casa de ella que la nuestra ? 3.
¿No son más holgazanes estos dependientes que los que
trabajan en la oficina del primo de Vd. ? 4. Aquellos
tenderos son más ricos de lo que dicen. 5. Mañana
estaremos en Bilbao con un pariente nuestro. 6. ¿No (se)
quedará Vd. aquí más de tres días ? 7. Las calles de esta
ciudad son más estrechas que las de Madrid. 8. ¿Ha
perdido Vd. su pañuelo? Sí, pero tengo en mi bolsillo
otro. 9. Escribe cartas más largas que yo. 10. Los
caballos de la cuadra mía (more emphatic for purposes of
contrast than de mi cuadra) son mejores que los de la suya
(but, more clearly, de la de él). 11. Carlos es más grande
que su hermano menor. 12. La casa de ella está en la
calle Mayor, pero es más pequeña que la nuestra. 13.
¿ Cuándo saldrá de la estación el tren ? 14. Los que viven
aquí son parientes míos. 15. Estos oficiales son menos
valientes de lo que dice el general. (The Spanish often put
the subject after the verb, even though the sentence is not
interrogative, if to do so makes for a smoother sound.
There is no need to bother overmuch about it, but it is
worth while, in your reading, to keep an eye out for such
changes.) 16. Buscaré a la tía de Vd. ¿No estará en el
jardín ? 17. Esta Inglesa tiene más dinero de lo que gasta.
18. Recibiremos mañana la carta que él ha escrito hoy.
1
In Spanish, as in French, in reckoning a week in days, both the
firstand last are counted i.e. eight not seven days. Similarly, a
:
fortnight = fifteen not fourteen days.

i 7o TEACH YOURSELF SPANISH
19. ¿ No
es más aplicada aquella muchacha que la cocinera 00
de Vd. 20. Perderemos este tren, pero hay otros muchos
? fcasa
que salen para Valencia de esta estación. 1 Estí
Exercise 9(a)
<. ¡Dói
1. one of the biggest cities in Spain, but it is
Barcelona is
not so large as London. 2. These oranges are not as good pr¿4
as those I used to buy when I lived in Seville. 3. Used you
Era
not to have a very good car ? 4. I used to travel a good

deal when I was young. 5. My best friend is one of the
(
senos
most celebrated authors in the world. 6. When we were ¿fea er
in England we used to write many letters. 7. We have not

as many relations as you. 8. This woman, who is now so
ugly, used in those days to be the best-looking girl in the
9. When we lived in Aranjuez my father took the
Th< 1.
village.
train for Madrid every day. 10. In those days the city work ¿e
had many inhabitants. 11. The room where we were was bin
my brother's. 12. Are not these matters as important as É of
those of which you were speaking? 13. When I learned How
Spanish, I often forgot the most ordinary words. 14. This

is the most delicious wine I have ever drunk. 15. She is to led v
not as industrious as her younger sister. 16. He used to villa)
drink a lot of beer, but he did not eat as much bread as I Nâ
(did). 17. I used to talk to the doctor every day he was :
a very intelligent man. 18. When we were young, we did

not have enough money to travel. 19. I have not read the
best works of the great Russian authors. 20. How many toft;
books have you ? I haven't as many as he. Knevw
lahous
Exercise 9(b) the ri\
pito es
1. ¿Por qué es tan soberbia aquella muchacha? Por
his
que su padre era uno de los hombres más ricos de la ciudad.

sho
2. ¿Cuál de los trenes tomaba Vd.? 3. ;Ha visto Vd,

aquella mujer? Era muy hermosa (or, hermosísima).
Su marido era de Málaga (or malagueño) : tenía una casa
la Plaza Mayor. 5. ¿Cuántas botellas de vino bebía él
todos los días? Más de seis. 6. Cuando vivíamos M

Sevilla teníamos un auto. 7. Estos dependientes no son
tan holgazanes como los de Vd. 8. He visto hoy al abo-
¡Cal
gado estaba en la oficina del primo de Vd. 9. Nuestra

:
EXERCISES 171
cocinera no era tan habladora como la de ella. 10. Esta es

la casa más magnífica (hermosa) que he visto jamás.
11. Esta criada no era tan aplicada como la otra. 12. El
hermano mayor de mi amigo era muy rico, pero ha perdido
todo su dinero. 13. Yo buscaba esta mañana a mi hermano.
a, but it ii 14. ¿Dónde estaba? Escribía cartas (or, estaba escribiendo
3tas¡ cartas). 15. Esta es la calle más larga de la ciudad,
- >ed vou i 16. Era el más hábil de mis obreros. 17. El era tendero,
l
'elagooi cuando vivía en Londres. 18. Todos los días no recibía
of the menos de diez pesetas. 19. El hombre más rico de la
:
- were aldea era hijo de un labrador pobre. 20. En aquellos

ú días tenía menos dinero de lo que gastaba.
is
Exercise 10(a)
girl in the
j took the The learned professor delivered a speech about (on)

1.
s the city the works of Lope de Vega. 2. That celebrated author was
were was born in Madrid. 3. My cousin was sitting on a bench in

portant as
front of his house when the soldiers entered his garden.
I learned
\ 4. How much money did you spend this morning ? I
haven't spent more than two pesetas. 5. Every day I
vj; used to walk as far as the river. 6. On Saturday I went to
le used I.
the village to pay a visit to a friend of mine. 7. We went
bread as I
to-day as far as the church. 8. According to what the
;: he was
doctor says, she is well. 9. While I was calling the girl,
her sister came in with a friend of hers. 10. When we
z we did
reached the station we were very tired. 11. Without

lew I
doubt that lawyer had no money. 12. They hadn't much
money when they arrived here. 13. My friends were born
in a house near the square. 14. After two days we arrived
at the river we were seeking. 15. This shoemaker worked
hard to earn his living. 16. Every day he spent many hours
17. After the arrival of our relations we went
Por
:ha?
in his shop.
'..ciudad
with them to the church. 18. We lived five years in the
isto Vif most delightful city in Spain. 19. Didn't your brother
isim) travel a great deal in France ? 20. Yes. He spent two years
maca in Paris, but he is now in Seville.
beb:
riamos I Exercise 10(b)

res no * 1. ¿Cuándo
llegaron Vds. a Londres? 2. Llegamos el
)V al
ab
sábado, pero mi hermano ha llegado aquí esta mañana.
o.'
Nuesl
3. Yo hablaba con el zapatero cuando entró en la tienda el
primo% de Vd. 4. ¿Ha visto Vd. a Carlos? SI. Cuanc
fui a la plaza estaba sentado en un banco en su jardín 1
5. Después de la llegada del tren salimos de la estación \
6. Nací en Málaga pero pasé muchos años en Tarragon
7. Nuestra casa no estaba lejos del río. 8. En aquellc
días este dependiente era muy holgazán pasaba mucha
:
horas en la posada cerca de la plaza. 9. Mientras elí

estaba en la calle el muchacho rompió las ventanas de si
casa. 10. El profesor es muy inteligente y el sábad|
pronunció un discurso admirable. 11. Según lo que die
este oficial, los soldados estarán aquí mañana. 12. Todo]
los días andaba hasta la iglesia. 13. El sábado
hacia el río. 14. Hallaron el dinero que buscábamod
15. Aquellos hombres que eran tan ricos como el tío de Ve
perdieron todo su dinero. 16. ¿No ha escrito Vd. a su
parientes? 17. Escribí a mi tía el sábado. 18. Sin dudJ
trabajaron para ganar su vida. 19. Rompió la botella (jul
estaba sobre la mesa. 20. ¿Cuántos años pasó Vd. en Francia
f
Exercise 1 1 (a)
1. My father has given me a gold watch. 2. I am goind

to pay a visit tomy cousin do you want to
: come with me j
3. Why have you come without her? 4. It is alwa}

impossible for me to understand what the doctor says to 1
5. What a delightful house What (how) do you call it]

!
6. Where is your daughter ? I don't know, but I will ca

her. 7. I have lost my purse. Have you seen it ? 8. Ye
I found it in the street and I have given it to your husband
9. It is necessary for me to work hard in order to earn nvj
living. 10. Are you writing to your mother? No.
wrote to her on Saturday. 11. The general's sons are ve
pleased, because he has bought them a car. 12. Tl
professor delivered a very interesting speech we listene:
to it with great pleasure. 13. The lawyer tells me that tl

doctor's son is in Madrid. Is it true ? 14. It's a lie. Mj|
neighbour saw him this morning. 15. What has happene
to Charles? 16. What has happened to him? Not!'
He is very well. 17. Those women have 110 money. I ha^
given them two pesetas. 18. Your letter? I didnl
receive it. 19. It is impossible for me to study while yc
are talking.
;
EXERCISES 173
én su
Exercise 1 1 (b)
jardfc
1. Voy a ver al Quiere Vd. venir conmigo?

labrador. ;
\. ¿Por qué no ha venido ella con él? 3. Dice que le

comprará un regalo. 4. ¿Dónde halló Vd. mis pañuelos?
x>s hallamos debajo de la mesa en su habitación. 5. Aquí
m
'3 «tán los libros que le he comprado. 6. Yo tenía un lápiz de
;
esi
>ro, pero lo vendí el sábado. 7. No les he dado un regalo, por
p
y jue no estuvieron corteses.
nientras yo andaba hacia el río.
8. La he visto esta mañana,
9. Les escribiremos
A ¿
i I2i joji aaañana. 10. Nos es difícil escuchar los pájaros, ir. Si
;
a y jj
fd. le da un auto, lo venderá. 12. Nos hablaba todos los
buscábamos
âs I 3* ^ s ver ^ ac* <l ue no recibí el recalo que me había
*
•••
Cy¡ >rometido. 14. Dice que el tren ha salido de la estación
asl]¡
>ero no lo creo. 15. ¿Dónde están sus vecinos? No los
;¡
n y iemos visto. 16. Nos es imposible entender lo que dice
^* I 7/ No sé lo que les ha sucedido. 18. Es verdad que
^ Francia!
iaqm
^ ven
illnero
™
y no
su casa P ero Y° no I a compré. 19. Perdió su
lo había hallado cuando he entrado esta mañana
¡n su cuarto. 20. ¿ Por qué no los ha vendido Vd ?
m Exercise 12(a)
«ithinj
Here i§ the present ( which )j have bought you. 2. He
t
bought himself an overcoat. 3. When the policemen
||.
tas
or says to i
irrived the robber hid himself behind the door. (Note that
yon'"
3
*<he subject does not necessarily precede the verb in a
.«
Spanish sentence.) 4. The thief has stolen hat (lit. my

5. He took off his shoes.
lit! 8.
stolen the hat to me).
las 6. I
husband
rill wait for you in front of the church. 7. It does not
lt
i
er to earn
f(9em to me t ^ at th ese books are very interesting. 8. I do
lot know why this poor woman has killed herself. 9. I
êrfl
, are
>romised him that you would wait for him. 10. Would you
-
12. Tl
:,
tot receive them? 11. Did you not call her? 12. She
we listen*
:
8 called (lit. calls herself) Mercedes. 13. I will call John :
¿me that j te is He has given me the money that

in the garden. 14.
It's
alii
le promised you. 15. Do you know what has happened
o her ? She has lost the train. 16. What does it matter
her ? 17. I do not think that these children have hurt
,oney.
I* hemselves. 18. Her mother is ill, but she herself is well. 19.
í? fhis man
is very intelligent but he always talks of himself.
\
;o. They
carried their trunks with them (con ellos would not
cfer to the subject of llevaron but to some other people).
^

Exercise 12(b)
i. ¿No nos ha visto Vd. a nosotros esta mañana i
1 Se
2. Yo me compraré un auto. 3. Le hemos comprado i '! ía
él un regalo. 4. El se ocultó debajo de la mesa. 5. Lot j."

aguardaremos a Vds. mañana. 6. ¿No me ha aguardad<r (
Vd. hoy? 7. Me parece a mí que Vd. no le escucha a él

8. No les prometimos a ellos regalos.
fie.
9. Se quitó e *y
a]
sobretodo. 10. Le quitaré a Vd. los zapatos. 11. ¿S<

ha lastimado el guardia civil? 12. Yo mismo maté a la
j
ladrones. 13. No me importa a mí. 14. Yo mismo L
1<
llamaré a él. 15. Mi hermano mayor se llama Juan ,
16. Prometieron que me aguardarían a mí. 17. ¿ Por am «
le ha dado Vd. a él la carta que le escribí (a Vd.) ? 18. Ni

es verdad que ella se mató. 19. Habló de sí pero no k l
c
escuché. 20. No me da a mí tantos regalos como le compn

a Vd.
Th
Exercise 13(a) 1.
1. the favour of reading me some pages of thii

Do me .
novel. 2. Is your brother at home? I want to talk ti

¿,
him on an important matter. 3. Do not give it to me :
give it to him. 4. I do not speak Spanish, but she hi
promised to teach it (to) me. 5. Have the kindness
bring me those matches. I want to smoke. 6. Th
knives are mine. My father sent me them from Madri<
7. I do not know where my friend is it is impossible f(
:
me to write to him. 8. Who is that girl ? Please introd

me to her. 9. When will you lend it to us ? 10. They w;
to buy my house, but I do not wish to sell it to them.
are
Let us nide behind the door. (Note that the s d|^

r
ocultemos is dropped before the addition of nos. This

to make the sound pleasanter.) 12. Don't let us hide the:
it would be better to stay here. 13. Those who decei
lent
others often deceive themselves. 14. Here is your ovt™.
coat. Will you lend it to me ? 15. We did not give it t<| ]
you, but to him. 16. Do not do me this favour, do it

her. (Better Don't do this favour for me, but for h<
:
The
17. If you want to buy this car I will sell it to you.
Don't introduce me to him, but to her. 19. This ho^J!^ 1
will be yours to-morrow. I know he has promised it to yc

20. Do not take this paper from me I want to read
:
EXERCISES 175
Exercise 13(b)
™ manan(
comprado'
Se los enviaré a Vd. 2. Quiere dármelos. 3. Tenga
1.
a mesa, d. la bondad de dárselos a él. 4. No me lo envié

J|
d. a mí, enviéselo a él.
lia aei]
5. Andemos hasta el río. 6.
Está en casa el amigo suyo {or, de Vd.)? 7. Quiero

arle. 8. Si Vd. no tiene esta novela se la prestaré. 9. No
* quitó 9-
apatos. 5 lo daré a él, sino a Vd. 10. Se le presentaré a ella. 11.

¡i,
nasmo maté
i e los enviaré a Vd. 12. Me es imposible enviárselo a Vd.
a
4- Yo mismo
Se han engañado a sí (mismos). 14. Mis fósforos
itán sobre la mesa en mi cuarto hágame Vd. el favor de :
raérmelos. 15. No nos lo vendió a nosotros. 16. Hágame

hbL 17. ¿Pt.
*d. el favor de presentármele a mí. 17. No será fácil
M(tVd.)? A
iseñárselo a ella. 18. No se los prestaré a Vd.
(
19. Se los
H de pero no si
3X1é a Vd. 20. No se lo venda Vd. a él, véndamelo.

i« como lecompi
Exercise 14(a)
1. The speeches which Professor X delivers are very
iteresting. have not read all the books of which he
2. I
3. Who took the pencil with which I was
-
Htt pages oi
/as talking.
4. What are the names of those two children who
I want to tal
'Titing ?
«re going towards the village? 5. They are the sons of
; :ct give it to
Danish, but she 1

le unfortunate shoemaker whose arm the surgeons ampu-
m the kindness
uted yesterday. 6. They are the shopkeeper's sons to
1
Iha
I smoke. horn you sent a basket of fruit yesterday. 7. She has a
I
them fa ery charming house whose upper windows give on to the
it is im overnor's garden. 8. That professor has read all the
d] Pleai Dmedies of Lope de Vega, which astonishes me. 9. Those
10, Theywa
>en are the two servants of the doctor whose wife we met
1
jell it to lis morning. 10. That woman is Charles's cook of whom
At that the s
spoke to you. n. He has read the letter I received,
ncs.
This
hich is very annoying. 12. Is this the man into whose
- 'iptushídethei lop you went ? 13. Do you know which of these books
Those who
decei
ou lent me ? 14. The boys among whom he found himself
1 Here is
ove
ere friends of his. 15. Is it you who cut your finger?
We (fid
not
gj
3 It is we who were singing when you came into the room.
7. Whose car is this ? It is not mine, but my brother's.
me,
3. The man I met yesterday is a baker. 19. I will wait
for
¡ sell it
MS >r you in front of the church near which there is an inn.
^ 15,
This
hoi
3. The general, who was born in Madrid, now lives in
urgos.
fwaiittoreadr-
;
Cisne
Exercise 14(b) 14.

Do
Dice que no tiene dinero

i. lo aue es mentira,
: a jtuatk
Aquél no es el hombre a quien encontró Vd. 3. El soldado 1 lem o
cuya esposa (mujer) Va. ha visto es de Toledo. 4. K nwa
soldado, a quien el cirujano amputó la pierna, está aquí leyl

5. El soldado a cuya esposa el cirujano amputó el brazo « ve le
un amigo mío. 6. Vivimos en una casa detrás de la cuá

hay una cuadra. 7. Esa muchacha es la hija mayor ele 1
abogado a quien encontró Vd. 8. La hija del abogado a ii 1
la cual Vd. ha visto esta mañana es casada. 9. Soy ve

quien entré en la tienda de Vd. 10. ; No son baratas lai
casas que dan a la plaza ? n. No he leído las obras sobre !,¡i
las cuales nos pronunció un discurso. 12. Voy a haced ^Lac ac
una visita al gobernador lo que será muy agradable

:
^ din.
13. El hombre en cuya oficina me hallé era muy riqfi Non

(riquísimo). 14. No son aquellos obreros quienes soc frote
holgazanes. 15. Nuestra cocinera, la cual (better thai *cuaicuai
que) llegó ayer de Madrid, es muy habladora. 16. Loí |em °s irnos
asuntos de que habló Vd. no me importan a mí. 17. Hajlhaix ha bf
en esta calle una casa que quiero comprar. 18. Mis amiga
en cuyo jardín estamos, quieren enseñarme el ingléf rifes!
19. No sé cuál de estos sombreros es de Vd. 20. ¿SabeVd ty'cS

cuáles de estas cestas son mías ? üecía,
Ui
Exercise 15(a)
1. I going to spend a few days at my cousin's housd íÍEs;
am Es
in Santander he has invited you also. 2. Unfortunately

: irato,
irato,
it is impossible forme to go with you, because my moth* iTd?

VJ1
:
is ill. 3. Whom are you looking for? For John. ]

want to tell him that a relative of his will arrive herí miei ser
this afternoon. 4. It is they who have broken the windows

5. This professor is not as learned as he says. 6. Om
house has not as many rooms as yours. 7. My neighboui Liter.
says there are more than twenty officers here, but 1 don' bkatl
flat!
believe it. 8. It seems to me that you have forgotten al toisi
you had learnt. Q. Do not lend him your watch: it k -H

certain that he will lose it. 10. She is the most talkati* ilinffc
womaii I have ever met. II. The bottle is not full < [the cc
water, but of beer. 12. On which of the benches is youjj eiff

cousin sitting? On the one I bought yesterday. iMêm
I*
EXERCISES 177
This novel isnot good, it is the worst of the works of Valera.

14. Do us the favour of reading us this article on the political
l| 15. Where are your spectacles?
situation. I have left
adoi them on the mantelpiece in my room. 16. Whom were
4, 1!you waiting for this morning ? For a friend of mine. 17.
rati
aqdll They have not brought their trunks with them. They
have left them in the train. 18. The richest man in the
;
delicti village is theone who is sitting in front of the inn. 19.
la hija
ma )¡ü\l will not send it to him. 20. This is the most famous
*
No
9,
son baratas
Soy
church in the city.
Exercise 15(b)
^
•aioiai obras sol» 1. ¿ A cuál de estos dos muchachos dará Vd. este cuchillo ?
12. Voy a haci* 3. La casa hacia la cual andábamos daba a un pequeño
ú mny agradabi jardín. 3. Hay
en este periódico tres artículos que voy a leer.
v rioo 4. No me será fácil enviárselos a Vd. 5. ¿ Cuántas cestas
oteros Giiienes id 3e frutos le ha dado Vd. a ella ? 6. He dejado mis zapatos en
i cual (better thai ™ cuarto, tenga Vd. la bondad de traérmelos. 7. Escu-
ra. 16. La -hemos los pájaros. 8. No sé cuántas botellas de cerveza
rmd 17, Haj ^ ha bebido. 9. Todos los días él andaba hasta la plaza,
ir. 18. Mis amiga ,co ¿Ha visto Vd. al ladrón a quien buscan los guardias
-
uñarme el inglfc
Aviles ? 11. El hombre cuyo auto yo compré es un autor
V¿ 20, ¡Sabe Vi
mu Y célebre. 12. La casa detrás de la cual me hallé per-
¿ De quién es este sobretodo ?
tenecía al médico. De 13.
Vd. o de él?
son estos obreros quienes son tan
14. No
lábiles. 15. Esta es la ciudad más agradable de España.
tó. Es verdad que me he comprado un reloj, pero era muy
•,-~v cousin's houi
Unfortunate
:
oarato. 17. ¿ Delante de cuál de las puertas le aguardaré
Sttoseinyinotb
iVd? 18. Es seguro que ella se cortará el dedo. 19. No
medaremos aquí más de dos días. 20. Nos es imposible
- i
n
arrive M
íeer mientras Vds. hablan,
< will
brokenthcwindfljj Translation I
U ^
5Tne¿o
Literal Version. " Good day, sir/' to me said the
* 1 * t Hn l^ rk at the same time that I entered in the office of Spanish
•« iae
G QiV
'S xourism.
grandfather was from Valencia, and I appear myself
^7
t h' it
your wat
q 7jL >:o him
for the which touches to the features and the colour
the
most
,
ajj
.
^
^ e complexion. For the so much much people whom
bcttle
is not
meet f or ^ rs tmie believe that I am Spanish. It would
»
^.
h \)\e2iSe me ver
:
the
benches
y muc h to speak well the Spanish and in
consequence I did not lose the opportunity to use saidl ^°
language directing to him the word.
1
In what way may I serve you? " he continued. Certai
" Good day," I replied. " This is the which brings m< at
"~
here. I wish to pass the holidays in Spain but I do not fjn a
dispose of much time." ^ xcf
'
Very well, sir. Then the important is to arrive there kt I sd
quickly. 1
single
u
That is. But I do not wish to go in aeroplane. It is
too dear." Notes,
" What part of Spain do you desire to visit ? " ternoon
" In first place I am going to Barcelona."

m
W
Would it please you to go in boat ? "
" No. Always I sea-sick myself much. Is there not a Swor.
train direct since Paris? " tes.
M
Certainly, sir. The express goes out from the station ldwid
of Quai d'Orsay at the 8 of the night and arrives at Barcelona kese won
httle after the 12 —a journey of 16 hours."
" Excellent. Without doubt a ticket of go and return i a k
Agentlf
will be cheaper. But I shall not be much time in BarcelonaJpild sa

Give me then by favour a ticket simple of second classy roper na
I think to start the Friday of the next week." p: Sdo
Free Version. " Good day, sir," the clerk said to mc th it in
as I entered the Spanish tourist office. kortened
My grandfather came from Valencia, and I take afteil or Sble I
him as regards features and complexion. Therefore many, Similar!

feople whom I meet for the first time think I am Spanishj $r¿ ibb.
should very much like to speak Spanish well, and con- k or

sequently I did not lose the opportunity of using this ichn).
Si
language in addressing him. rvantmi

I
What can I do for you? " he continued. I

f Dots),
"Good morning," I answered. "This is what brings

me here. I want to spend the holidays in Spain, and 1 pea life
S
j
have not much time at my disposal." js
" Vfery well, sir. Then the important thing is to gei ride".
¡
there quickly." I
with
led
" Quite so. (That's it.) But I don't want to go by ow j (l
aeroplane. It's too dear." V an

" What part of Spain do you wish to visit? "
^ i;
" In the first place, I'm going to Barcelona." -í¿,
" Would you like to go by boat ? ftr; 7^

EXERCISES 179
<
:fl
-aid
" No. I'm always very sea-sick. Isn't there a through
"
"
ia*ain from Paris ?
inued. " Certainly, sir. An express leaves the Quai d'Orsay
:h brings
me station at 8 p.m. and arrives at Barcelona shortly after
* I do not loon —a
journey of 16 hours."
14
No doubt a return ticket would be cheaper.
Excellent.
wive thai But I shall not be long in Barcelona. So please give me
1 single second-class ticket. I am thinking of starting on
plane, It 'Friday of next week."
Notes. Buenos días. Similarly buenas tardes, good
:
ifternoon; buenas noches, good-night; all three being

olural in Spanish.
Buenas mañanas is never used.
This brings us to the question of modes of
Señor.
iddress. Hitherto we have used the words hombre, mujer
the stationed muchacho. Actually in speaking to or of individuals
hhese words would seldom be employed by a foreigner.
A gentleman, when we speak of someone, is un caballero
)and return Mit. a horseman or knight). In speaking to one, we
j]Barcelona, lihould say: señor. This also means Mr., followed by a
oroper name. In speaking to Mr. Martinez we should
aay Señor Martínez. In speaking about him, we should
:
said me wit in the definite article and say

to el señor Martínez :
shortened, in writing, to Sr.). Señor (capital letter) in

1 take <3ible or Prayer Book means Lord.
after
refore many Similarly " a lady ", " Mrs." or " Madam ", is señora
am abb. Sra.) an unmarried woman or girl is señorita (abb.
;
and cofc or Srta.). Señorito is a diminutive (i.e., Master

*rita.
;thiJ|ohn). Similarly a lady talking about her husband to a
servant might refer to him as el señorito (Fetch the master's
ooots). Referring to his wife, a man would probably say
at brinj
• mi esposa, to someone else's the more formal señora. A
míe speaking of her husband would use mi marido (mi
toposo is very formal). La novia means only "the
¡ngistoj^
wide". Don and Doña are purely Spanish, and always
ised with a Christian name, though the surname may
intto go
bj ::ollow. Thus Don Juan, Don Juan Tenorio, Señor Don
Juan and Señor Don Juan Tenorio are all possible forms of
tddress. But the foreigner who wants to visit our old
iriend Don Juan would do best to use the simplest form,
Señor Tenorio, and so in dealing with other less notorious
— o

personages. In referring to the relatives of someone he
does not know well, he would make a good impression by
i.Tí
inserting señor, etc., in speaking of them.
Has your mother arrived ? = ¿ Ha llegado la Sra. madre

de Vd.P ra M
Tocar, to touch (" to play " of instruments), also has the i lit
meaning of "as regards ", "in what concerns ", etc. i;Cii<
Por lo ta>Uo = for the reasons given, therefore. mchisi
Vez. This means time in the sense of occasion. Dos m

veces twice. Tiempo means a space of time. Hora(s) itB^
used for times of day, though more often understood than ¥li
expressed. Por la primera vez is less idiomatic than por llenas
vez primera, but grammatically correct. Primero drops the icias.
final o when preceding a masculine singular noun. Diere
Repliqué. This change is necessary, because in replied

A
the c would have the sound of th. Contestar is, in fact, the fl?
"
more usual word for to reply fcte<
Note that querer and desear are followed by an in-i pti

finitive without preposition. Note also that " of using " *idice
is de usar (not usando). The infinitive, not the gerund q

io
or present participle, is always used in Spanish after wo ¡ero
prepositions. The only exception is a particular and! eljf
limited use of en. trcick
Gustar. Many verbs are used impersonally in Spanish

and with a personal subject in English. Me gustaría
lit. it would please to me i.e., I should like. LiTEf
Mucho. This cannot have muy before it. It only has "¡ina .'.ma
the superlative form muchísimo. Note that gente (people) ^ de kd cle;
is grammatically singular. coi |s
Lo importante. This construction, with some such wordfcw

as " thing " understood, is very common. • ix
Después is an adverb. Después de is the preposition, o
used when followed by a noun, pronoun or infinitive. Both Iggage
refer to time. " Behind " or " after ", of place, is detrás dé, ithec
Demasiado means too or too much (1 ivik h hop). Too, 1
in the sense of " also", is también. 1
The article is frequently omitted with sin. It is often!

1 with nouns when English would have an adjective ¿he
ending in " less ". Doubtless =

sin duda. Penniless *ioco
sin dinero. I
!
EXERCISES 181
bu i
Exercise 16
i
bj
i. Tengo elgusto de presentarle a mi primo. 2. El gusto

es mío, pero he encontrado ya a este caballero. 3.
¿Dónde está el Sr. No está aquí. Debió salir
Gómez?
para Madrid a las diez. Cuántas veces ha leído Vd.
4. ¿
s the
este libro? 5. No debemos pasar mucho tiempo aquí.
ccerns
, etc. 5. ¿ Cuándo piensa Vd. salir para Londres ? 7. Nos gusta
therefore, imuchísimo ir en aeroplano es el modo más agradable de
:
w occasion, viajar. 8. No sé lo que me dijo. Lo peor es que no pro-

'sme. flor, nuncia bien sus palabras. 9. Es evidente que el señor
- understood
thn López es muy hábil en todo lo que toca al comercio. 10.
than
fa
^Buenas tardes, señorita. ¿ Cómo está Vd. ? Muy bien,
rriw^ro drops
the
"gracias. ¿ Y Vd. ? 11. Hay en la puerta una señorita que
âr noun. quiere hablar con el (Sr.) médico. 12. ¿Quién es aquel
incitó caballero? Es un amigo del señor Fuentes." 13. No es
' •- r
ii in fact, the agradable hallarse sólo y sin amigos. 14. He tomado un
billete de ida y vuelta de primera clase. 15. Debíamos
an in-
isncontrarlos cerca de la iglesia a las siete. 16. Mucha gente
so chat "oí using" *ne dice que me parezco a mi padre. 17 ¿ Iremos en barco ?
m, not the gerund *No lo quiero, porque me mareo siempre. 18. No sé cuánto
ish afta dinero me debe. 19. ¿ Cuántas veces le ha escrito Vd.
,
i
Mftiz-ilar
-articular
«A
and
LA. él) ?
? NO debe ser fácil hacer sin faltas todos estos
20. No
ejercicios.
tméj in inifl
Translation II
¿a. líe pi
Literal Version. It was rainingwhen I left from London.
id like.
Ir it It 01
^ But in arriving at Dover I met myself with that the weather
Lu lad cleared. The sun was shining. It made hot and I
ws.s content to see that the sea was calm. The crossing
iwor
:rom Dover to Calais lasted only an hour and at that of
r.th some
:he six I was meeting myself in Paris. As I only thought
%o be outside of home fifteen days, I had not registered
cwn.
r ositioi
1
" 5a £g a g e on ty a suit-case, which I passed by the window
11 e Bot >
)f the coach to a porter. He called to a taxi, the which

Irove me to the station of Quai d'Orsay. The train was
lot to leave until the eight, for so much I supped in the
estaurant of the station.
The office of tourism had reserved me a seat of front to
i¿
have an *W .he locomotive and I was content to find, when the train
1
1* m eft, only other passenger in the compartment a Spanish
:
18a TEACH YOURSELF SPANISH
gentleman who told me that he was returning to Barcelona M
after to have passed three weeks in France. lisal
Holding in account that I was a stranger, he spoke to ma Id

slowly, and I was able to understand him much of that fated
which he said to me. As I was wearied after the journey mind,

from London, very soon I went to bed in the seat, with thí i"-in¡
head resting in a pillow hired for 4 francs to an offida 1 Ai

of the company of railways. I did not sleep very well, but flERt
I did not feel it, and when I woke up I found myself with k En
that the train was passing by the heart of the Pyrenees. 1 irá
Free Version. Itwas raining when I left London.
But on arriving at Dover, I found that the weather had IE
cleared. The sun was shining. It was hot, and I was glad squire
to see that the sea was calm. The crossing from Dover icrkin^
to Calais lasted only an hour, and at about six o'clock I

found myself in Pans. As I was only intending to be away Jw:
(from home) a fortnight, I had no registered baggage, bat im
only a suit-case, which I passed out of the window of tha mi methi
coach to a porter. He called a taxi, which took me to the I M

Quai d'Orsay station. The train was not due to start untfli e!
8, so I had supper in the station restaurant. hi
The tourist office had reserved me a seat facing the engina^ i
and I was glad to find, when the train started, only one t
other passenger in the compartment a Spanish gentleman, Mo
:
{
who told me that he was returning to Barcelona after Ah

spending three weeks in France. üwtii
I
Bearing in mind that I was a foreigner, he spoke to

slowly, and I was able to understand much of what hSyU
said to me. As I was tired after the journey from London, ífî
I lay down on the seat very soon, with my head resting ottpes
a pillow, hired for 4 francs from an official of the Rail rifi
Company. I didn't sleep very well, but I didn't mind,
when I woke up I found that the train was passing throi
the heart of the Pyrenees.
Notes. Llovía. Many verbs are used impersonally in fc
Spanish to describe states of the weatlier. Helar, to hi
tronar, to thunder ;
amanecer, to dawn, grow light a ;
checer, to grow dark, to get dusk ;

nevar, to snow
other expressions the verb hacer is used coupled with
noun or adjective. Hace frío (calor) —
it is cold (w
Hace mal (buen) tiempo —

it is bad (fine) weather. Ti
— —
EXERCISES 183
'
dso, of course, means time ". Hace mucho tiempo que =»
t is a long time since
pun to
En llegando. In the notes to the previous extract it was
ichofti
tated that after all prepositions the infinitive, not the
gerund, was used in Spanish, where the English equivalent
It, With J
a
M ing ". The only exception is a particular use with
: oí n And here it is. En is used when something happens
out JiFTER the completion of the action expressed by the gerund,
^mvselfwil fhe English equivalent is generally on ". En acabando
'
* of
the Pyrenei
m trabajo, me acosté «
on finishing my work, I went to bed.
GlleftLoi 01 icabanao (without en) would mean " while finishing ".
ill other prepositions, including en, apart from this usage,
t the
had
ict, and I was g] squire the infinitive. Insistir en trabajar =

to insist on
working.
m sx o
Dovflr
Después de usually requires the perfect infinitive

tending to be ana después de haber pasado =
after spending (having spent).
Encontrar =
lit. to meet, often to find; but to find that
:he window oí I something has happened requires encontrar con que.
:ch took me to El sol brillaba. In speaking of the weather, an impersonal
tt|
"due to start unt rerb cannot be used when there is a noun subject.
rat. Hace buen tiempo, but el tiempo era claro.
: lacing the en¡ Eso de las seis. The whole question of times of day,
started, only oAtc is dealt with in the lessons on numerals.
ioanish gentlemai Solo as an adjective means "alone", "single". As an

,o Barcelona aftt idverb (with distinctive accent mark) it is equivalent to
olamente (only) and, being shorter, often preferred to it.
er, he spoke to Solo must not be confused with the adjective único (sole,
much of what ily) hijo único only son. =

.T.iVl
Lasa used with a preposition and without an article means
me's home or place of business (French, chez).
Voy a casa =
I'm going home. Voy a casa de I'm B=
joing to B's (place, home, shop, firm, etc.). Estar en casa =
.0 be at home.
as passingt
Por tanto is identical with por lo tanto used in the previous
«xtract and means " so " or " therefore
Otro referring to a particular person or thing requires
hail
e definite article or a possessive. Used indefinitely it

ioes not take the indefinite article. Quiero otro = I want
mother quiero el otro = I want the other.
; Otra cosa =
cold Warn]]|K>mething else:". with a negative in the sentence it means
it is 1
B nothing else
weather.
— i
i8 4 TEACH YOURSELF SPANISH

Volver =
to return. Volver a with an infinitive Implies koiigb
repetition volveré a verle

: = I shall see him again lúe
tin
Alquilada. A past participle used with ser, estar Of ¡jFrai
without either agrees with the word to which it refers. Used Soon \
with haber it is invariable. There are certain words mostly |theFi
connected with taking i.e., stealing, borrowing, buying.

—
fc>pped
etc. when the English " from " is rendered, as in French,

by a, and not by de. louse,
kebagg
Exercise 17
¿d to
i. Aquel caballero es el hijo único del Sr. Galdos, a quien
encontró Vd. ayer. 2. En llegando a la estación vendré ferofl
a verle a Vd. 3. Después de haber leído el periódico fui a
casa de mi amigo. 4. Nos dijo lo que quería hacer. 5. ¿ Si ¡
Dice que hará frío mañana, pero no lo creo. 6. El tren ¿ ;

saldrá de la estación a las ocho. 7. No hablábamos de asun- ¿ at
tos políticos, sino de otra cosa. 8. Compré este auto a un m

amigo mío, quien no sabía conducir. 9. No me trajo el ¿ :er to'
libro que quería, sino otro. 10. Como iba sólo hasta la Ff say ne
iglesia, no tomé mi sobretodo. 11. Ayer no quiso venir

spei
hablarle :hoy está contento de hacerlo. 12. Me hizo Ê|j§j

favor de prestarme cinco pesetas. 13. Debemos volver a ,
1
verle (a Vd.). 14. No puedo hallar la maleta que me dió

Vd. 15. 1 No puede Vd. reservarnos habitaciones que dan ¿ wei
al jardín? 16. Me dijo todo lo que sabía del asunto. ontier
a*
Hábleme más despacio, por favor me es imposible t patnli

:
¡
entenderle. 18. No me gustan autos alquilados. 19. ¿
¿Quiere Vd. venir a buscar mis anteojos? No puedo ver
m
bien sin ellos. 20. Me vió á mí, pero no le vi á él.
-re. ro:
Translation III
Literal Version. The clerk of the office of tourism had ¿!T le
told me that I had two routes for Barcelona. I could pafl fJ k
the frontierby Port-Bou or by Puigcerdá. I chose JH

ultimate and rejoiced myself of to have done it. Thi
scenery was magnificent. At the two sides of the way the
mountains bathed by the rays of the sun which it madft p,
little had left, raised themselves to great height. In the,

summits I had rests of snow and streamlets slipped theiD-j
selves by its sides in order to unite their waters to the grow-
ing river, near the way of the train. The train passed,
EXERCISES 185
aim
hrough the little republic of Andorra, which until it makes
again,
.ttle time had not almost no communication with Spain
Prefers,
nd France.
Usj
at La Tour de Carol, the ultimate town
Soon we arrived
Swords
the French side. Then the train passed the frontier and
< i
'topped itself in the station of Puigcerdá. All the passengers
a<
B fH
^renc
B(fe got out of the train and directed ourselves to the Customs
louse. An official looked to me the passport and reviewed
he baggage. He asked me if I had something to declare,
said to him that I had not more than the cigarettes which
* ¿ estación
MW
had in the case and he permitted me to return to the train,
[iter of half hour of wait the train left from the station and
*i>eiperi
ttle by little we went ourselves removing from the moun-
ne quería
ains. I looked at the landscape and entertained myself
«creo. IM
oting the names of the stations. The train stopped
u.: --íbamos de asa
self at many The compartment where I was
of them.
'ocpré este auto an
oing, was now full was doing how much I could in
and I
me trajo
rder to understand that which my companions of voyage
sólo hasta
ere saying. It was not very easy, since many of them
;;jiso venir,
'ere speaking the Catalán, which is very different from the
crio. 12, Mellizo,
panish. By end the train arrived, I entered in a taxi and
j Debemos volver
irected myself to the hotel where I had reserved a room.
i muleta que med Free Version. The tourist office clerk had told me that
.agitaciones que di íere were two routes to Barcelona. I could cross the
isunto. ontier at Port-Bou or Puigcerdá. I chose the latter, and
me es impós ongratulated myself on having done so. The scenery was
tá alquilados. tagnificent. On either side of the track, the mountains,
icios! No puedo ithed in the rays of the sun which had risen shortly
wá so le vi i
i sfore, rose to a great height. On the summits there were
;mains of snow and little streams glided down their sides
) mingle their waters with the growing river near the
Di tourism ha
lilway line. The train passed through the little republic
:
,
1 could Andorra, which until a short while ago had virtually
¿rerdi I cho d communication with Spain and France.
*-jve done
it.
1
We soon reached La Tour de Carol, the last town on the

ndes of
the way t
tench side. Then the train crossed the frontier and stopped
» which it w Puigcerdá station. All of us passengers got out and
;
ratfc«ht.
In ade our way to the Custom House. An official looked at
y passport and examined my luggage. He asked me if
waters to
to had anything to declare. I told him that I had nothing
at the cigarettes in my case, and he allowed me to return
r
train
the
—

to the train. After a half-hour wait the train left the iff
station, and gradually we drew farther and farther awaylfc^
from the mountains.
Ilooked at the landscape, and amused myself by noting m tb
the names of the stations. The train stopped at many of tome

them. The compartment in which I was travelling waiôs mos
now full, and I did my best to understand what my travi^_ W

ling companions were saying. It was not very easy, since t:. ;
many of them were speaking Catalán, which is very differ- pess

ent from Spanish. At last the train arrived. I got in a rreasi
taxi and made my way to the hotel where I had reserved i lergr
room.
Notes. Había. The ordinary third person singular
present indicative form of haber is ha. This also mean»
'
ago though it is sometimes written with the accent sign. rar?
The form hay means " there is " or " there are Conse- omos
"
quently había and hubo can mean " there was (were) t fepué
habrá there will be ", and ha habido " there has (have) icha
been ". Sometimes we use " there is " with the iaea of lires.
drawing attention, possibly pointing a finger e.g., " There teo

he is ! For this he is used, followed by aquí for here is
'
inúsi
and by allí for " there is ". This he is really an obsolete iso el
part of ver, to see. Being a verb, it takes an object in Idem

the accusative, so that " there he is " is really " see him k hoi
there " hele allí, and " here I am "= héme aquí (see me ::ar
=
here) (French me void). r (
Hacía toco, shortly before. This point has been fullyj

dealt with in the introduction to this lesson. rase
Se paró, stopped. Many verbs are intransitive

English, and transitive [i.e., must have an object)
Spanish. So they take the reflexive pronoun, which
untranslated in English. £$
Salimos del tren. Remember that salir cannot take a|
direct object. De is required. Similarly en after entrar*
On the other han i .ire certain verbs requiring a
preposition in English before the object, but used without

One in Spanish : e.g., aguardar (to wait for), aprovechar (to
|
profit by), presenciar (to be present at), escuchar (to list
to), mirar (to look at), incendiar (to set fire to). These
of course, require the usual a when their direct object is
person.
EXERCISES 187
Nos dirigimos. The first person is used because the

peaker is including himself among the passengers. When
Spanish verb has subjects of different persons, the verb
5 in the resulting person.
" He and I are good friends 99
ecomes " he and I (we) are good friends " =
él y yo somos
uenos amigos.
'travel-
—
Nos fuimos alejando lit. " we went removing ourselves .
99
sina use of it (or of venir or andar) indicates that the action

Tiis
which
expressed by the verb in the gerund goes on progressively
is
verydiffej
raed. Igot ¿ icreasing. El peligro va creciendo =

the danger is growing
ver greater.
id oeni
'Ron juij
Exercise 18
I this mieani I. ¿Qué instrumento de música ha aprendido Vd. a
A the accent si
siga ocar r 2. Hace dos horas que los aguardo. 3. Ella y yo
are Con» icimos cuanto podíamos para enseñarle a cantar. 4.
"ere was (were) )espués de haber pasado seis horas sin comer, teníamos
-
1
'
there has (hai lucha hambre. 5. Me convidó a cenar en casa de sus
i " with the idea •adres. 6. Hace dos años que compré esta bolsa para
itfeiw.£, "Thi abaco (compré esta bolsa dos años ha) 7. Me gusta mucho
.
iqd for" here is< 1 música : tenga Vd. la bondad de poner la radio. 8. Se
s really an obsok juso el traje que había comprado a su primo. 9.
" Vd.
•.ikes an object tiene razón," dijo el juez, echándose a reir. 10. Hacía
a really "see' os horas que aguardábamos cuando entró el alcalde en
: tone owl (sei
1 cuarto. 11. Me gustaría mucho llevar calcetines con
ierres de cremallera. 12. ¡
Hélos allí ¿ No puede verlos ?
!
:omt has full 3. Yo tenía un auto, pero lo vendí hace dos semanas. 14.
ileson.
'
¡
-
írvase tomar asiento. No tardarán en venir. 15 ¿ Cuánto
are intransitive
iempo hace que mira Vd. las montañas? 16. Había
uve an object)
idrones en esta vecindad, pero no los hay ahora. 17.
pronoun, which
Estábamos contentos de encontrarnos con que brillaba el sol.
8. Es inútil decirme que no tiene Vd. nada que declarar.
9. ¿ Me permitirá Vd. volver a verle ? 20. Prometí
1
i¿r cannot take

Testarle dinero, pero no tengo la intención de hacerlo.
requiring-
y
verbs Translation IV
•item
Literal Version. The hotel where I lodged myself was
ituated in a great avenue known by the Ramblas, which
I
.
m*mfee irects itself since the port until a magnificent square,
^
ore to),
object
ailed Plaza de Cataluña. The proprietor was speaking
eir
direct
rench and also a little of English, then Barcelona is a
cosmopolitan city, but I told him that he may speak to ra< poked i
Spanish, since I was decided to improve the knowledge o not do
the language. Smiling he said to me that it was an exceilen jag m

idea. Then I went up to my room, which was on the secom pmeiw
floor : I washed myself, undid my suit-case and went dowi After t
to the dining-room. I had taken a cup of coffee before t mt out

cross the frontier, but since then I had not eaten nothing iabool
then I had much hunger. I had an excellent lunch, tb map.
which consisted in hots d'&uvres, fish, chicken cooked to th< BCh of
Spanish manner, salad, cheese and fruits. I of wine do no istraig]
understand much, and I told to the waiter that he shouk part |e
bring me a bottle of white wine of recommendable make ft'

And in effect it was admirable. lurches,
After to eat I rested a short space of time in my room an< b harb

went out after in order to see something of the city, rlitopi
entered first into a bookshop, where I bought a guide oEt,wk ú it,
Barcelona with a map. Studying the plan, it surprise iearic
to me at the to see that great part of the city is of moder m rcelon:
type, the streets stretch themselves in straight lines lik Votes

the of a city of the United States. The part in which
found myself was the quarter most antique of Barcelona ani^
contained many picturesque buildings and churches. !
directed myself first to the long of the Ramblas toward M¿ ¡) r
the port, dominated by a gigantic statue of Christophe ncou ¿Í
Columbus. At little distance was a mail-boat which was ti

leave that night for Majorca (Balearic Islands). There weq
¡^¡J
^
also other many boats, then Barcelona is one of the port }
ma
most important of Spain. ¡î
Free Version. The hotel where I was putting up wa ¡^' ver
situated in a spacious avenue known as the Ramblas, whicl

^
runs from the harbour as far as a magnificent square, callee
the Plaza de Cataluña. The proprietor spoke French an^
¿ f
,
'
also a little English, for Barcelona is a cosmopolitan city f

m L
but I told him to speak Spanish to me, since I was determine*

to improve my knowledge of the language. He told L ie
diff
with a smile that it was an excellent idea. Then I went uj

We"
to my room, which was on the second floor, washed, an
packed my bag and went down to the dining-room. I ha<
m
.
'
nad a cup of coffee before crossing the frontier, but sina

then I had had nothing, so I was very hungry. I had ai ^
excellent lunch, consisting of hots d'eeuvres, fish, chickei
EXERCISES 189
v
*we :ooked in the Spanish style, salad, cheese and dessert,
knowledge!
do not know much about wine, and I told the waiter to
13
wing me a bottle of white wine of a brand he could re-
°p the seca
ommend. And, indeed, it was excellent.
coiree
After the meal I rested for a while in my
room, and then
before
* l0i
j rent out to see something of the city. I went first of all
&ten nothia
o a bookseller's, where I bought a guide to Barcelona with
i cooked to
map. Studying the plan, I was surprised to see that
auch of the city is of modern design, the streets stretching
r
'Ü01
a straight lines like those of a city in the United States.
.Tie part in which I found myself was the oldest quarter of
ihoul
Jarcelona, and contained many picturesque builaings and

¿urches. I made my way first along the Kamblas towards
he harbour, which is dominated by a gigantic statue of
íyroon
the
Christopher Columbus.
cit;
A short distance off was a mail-
K)at, which was due to start that night for Majorca in the
a guide
:
urpnsi
jalearic Islands. There were also many other vessels, for
Jarcelona is one of the most important harbours in Spain.
I
Notes. Conocida por, "known as". Conocer means
lines
which in
know a person, or to be acquainted with somebody or
xelonaa omething.
1 and churches, Saber is not used of people, but of things.

Ramblas towari Desde means " since in point of time. But, particularly '
itue oi Christophi >hen coupled with hasta, it means " since " in the sense of
from " alone would probably
1 44
i-boat which was] starting from ", where
lands). Then we
f >e used in English de would not convey this idea.
:
1
one of the
is Poco as an adjective is the opposite of mucho. In the
jj
ingular it means " little in the plural " few As an

was putting up idverb it means " little ", " not very and is the opposite
•he Ramblas,
wh| rf muy. As an adverb it is, of course, invariable in form.
hoi square, cal Discursos poco interesantes = rather uninteresting
r srvike French i
ipeeches.
Pocos amigos =
few friends.
:ccl
wasdetermim Poco may have the indefinite article in front of it with the
He t tame difference in meaning as is implied in English by
Then I went '
little " (few) and " a little " (a few). When " a little r
neans " a small quantity of " and is followed by a noun, de
Ito • required before the noun.
= "
frontier,
tsifl Un poco de queso a little cheese. (When the " little
= he speaks
.
hungry.
I
had neans " small pequeño is used.) Habla poco
94
chid ittle. Pues «= then, in the sense of " for since or
0*>' ¡sli,
:
igo TEACH YOURSELF SPANISH

" therefore Then in the sense of time is entonces] then fCm
M
after that " is después.
11 11
meaning next or
Dije que me hablara. Verbs of commanding, ordering, etc.,
require the verb after the " that " to be in the subjunctive.
Subir =
to go up. Bajar to come down. Both can = ipil.
be used transitively to mean " to take up " and " to fetch

down respectively (of luggage, etc.). ¿
Antes deis the preposition " before antes the adverb^mea
A preposition must always govern a noun, a pronoun or a iquel
verb in the infinitive. The function of an adverb is only ira
to limit or render more exact the meaning of a verb, an
adjective or another adverb. " I never saw him before " bec
(adverb). " I saw him before you " (preposition). Delante pe
(de) is " before " in front of of place, antes (de) of time. más c
M
Mucha hambre. say "to be hungry We the Spanish i (Sí
to have hunger". Hunger is a noun, therefore, as ex- una

plained in the previous note, an adverb (muy) is inadmissible. iodo
The adjective mucho is needed. (The French have the same
usage.)
Roto «
a short while, a minute (though not of exactly 6d Ln
seconds, which is minuto).
fy
Librería a bookshop, not a library, which is biblioteca. krt
El ver. Infinitives are sometimes used as nouns with an b,
article preceding. Un ser humano a human being. iten =
El beber y el comer eating and drinking. = iLon
Guía (masc.) the guide (man) = (fern.), the guide-book. :
Similarly la guardia =
the guard (body of men), el
guardia =
a member of that body. kam< I
Otros muchos =
many others. Adjectives of quantity! jafc
(muchos, pocos, etc.) or numerals generally follow the plural:
of oiro(a).
r
Ion
E iglesias. To avoid two similar sounds in succession, y le ti
(and) is changed to e, when the word next to it begins with h

i unpronounced).
(or hi, since h is rk
Fathers and sons padres e hijos. =
Similarly o (or)
becomes u when the next word begins with o or ho. vocal Th
u ovejas, cows or sheep. |j,; e
Exercise 19
i. Diré a la criada que baje la maleta. 2. Salió del cuartel
!••< ir i! i'l i j. ;llay alô de nuevo en el periódico? V
EXERCISES
*¡ ttll
Cuando miré por la ventana había alguien en el jardín.
4.
5. Ni ella ni su hermana saben nadar. 6. Le prestaré este

firing,
et^
libro. Tengo en mi biblioteca otros muchos. 7. Si Vd.
quiere aguardar un rato, diré al Señor Gutierrez que está
!own,
ca ¡i
aquí. 8. No tengo nada que decirle. 9. No supe lo que
quería hacer. Ni ejla tampoco. 10. No tenemos ningunos
amigos en esta ciudad lo que es lástima. 11. No volveré
:
nunca a hablarle (a Vd.). 12. No he encontrado nunca a

the advert
1
a pronoun
or
aquel caballero, ni quiero conocerle. 13. ¿Antes de salir
adverb m para Londres, no le dijo nada a Vd. ? 14. ¿Hay allí
is
H of a verb, alguien? No puedo ver a nadie. 15. ¿Cuánto tiempo

aw him befar
/' hace que le busca Vd. ? Desde las ocho. 16. Tendremos
Dáé que comprar un poco de café. 17. Pocos hombres hablan
^l¿«)oftira< ¡más de aos lenguas. 18. ¿Ha encontrado Vd. a alguien?
^'
the Spai
Sí, (señor). A tres caballeros. 19. Mi hermano no escribe
therefore, as e» qunca a nadie. 20. ¿ No tenía ella miedo ? De ningún
y) isina* modo.
,ch have the samj
Translation V
Literal Version. Having consulted my plan, I made my
way
to the Plaza de Toros. In this period of the year
uch Miéíi there were not courses of bulls, and even if there might have
ís
is nouns with ai been, I am not sure if I would have gone to see one. But I
man being. interested myself much to see the arena. guardian to A
i. whom I gave to him a peseta of tip allowed me to enter.
'theguide-boi That which more surprised me was the little extension of
¿y of men), Jke place. The circle had not much more than 60 yards of
[diameter. Portraits of famous bull-fighters adorned the
ves of quantit walls, and the programme of the last festival showed me that
Mow the pW had been run (killed) six bulls during the race of the after-
"
noon. I think that it is a cruel amusement* but the same

;
in succession,
are the hunting of foxes, and both distinguish themselves
10 begins wil
it
by skill and bravery. Besides, nobody can judge a thing
without to have seen it. The exterior was very beautiful.
The edifice was of red brick with two towers, Moorish style.
boor /¿
The walk had fatigued me, and I sat myself in one of the
tinca
tables of the part of outside of a café. I asked a glass of

beer, and had not begun even when a boot-black approached
himself and began to clean to me the shoes. It fixed to him
del cmiart( in that one of my heels was used, and before that I had time
Salió
el
pen* to protest he had taken it off and was preparing other in
en
er
order to put it to me. This he did in less of 5 minutes. ? ir
^
Amused me much and I paid to him the 12 pesetas ^H
all it,
1
which he asked to me. I bought also a tie to a vendor that M * not
was running over the cafés. I thought to meet the streets s^"
full of beggars, but there were none, and the streets were as to f best
clean as the of any city in which I have been. I began to Sotes.

think that many of the ideas which I had concerning Spain artainty
were false. Nor so little I met in spite of the poor knowledge the üüí
which I had of the language, no one who left off to do{ croduce:
the possible in order to reply to the questions which Ii éj 1
made to them. 1 ¿eded in
At last I looked at my wrist- watch, and thought that it Hqw

would be better to return to the hotel in order to sup. . jan", f
Free Version. Having consulted my plan, I made my itencei

way to the bull-ring. At this season of the year there wers isidere<
no bull-fights and, even if there had been, I am not sure [\ki\

whether I should have gone to see one. But I was greatl;
interested in seeing the arena. A guardian (doorkee_
to whom I gave a peseta as a tip allowed me to go in. W
surprised me most was the smallness of the place
circle was not much more than 60 yards in diamei
Portraits of famous bull-fighters adorned the walls, and fao,
Erogramme of the last performance showed me that s(|
ulls had been killed during the afternoon's fight. I think t¿ lo
it is a cruel sport, but so is fox-hunting, and both are dis- kk

tinguished by skill and courage. Besides, no one can judge té I
of a thing without having seen it. The outside was very
handsome. The building was of red brick with two towers - n ]e j j
in Moorish style. j
The walk had tired me, and I sat down at one of the out- n
side tables of a café. I asked for a glass of beer, and had

not even begun it when a boot-black drew near and began] >
leone:
to clean my shoes. He noticed that one of my heels was

worn and, before I had time to protest, he had taken it off
and was getting another ready to put on. This he did in
less than 5 minutes. All this amused me considerably, and
I paid him the 30 pesetas which he asked. I also bought a
tie from a vendor who was making the round of the cafés.
I expected to find the streets full of beggars, but there were
none, and the streets were as clean as those of any city I haw
bee n in. 1 began to think that many of my ideas abofl
^
EXERCISES 193
pain were wrong. Nor, in spite of the meagreness of my

IS! 3m nowledge of the language, did I come across anyone who
tílV?
dorí id not do his utmost to answer the questions I put. At
.V.- ^^strei ;ngth I looked at my wrist-watch, and thought it would
were i
e best to go back to the hotel for supper.
Notes. Hubiera habido. The indicative is the mood of
srtainty or fact, the subjunctive of doubt or supposition.
)r
knowled
Tius the subjunctive is used after aunque (even if), since it
hi to
ltroduces a possibility not a fact. Note here, too, that as
estoy is negative, the negative pronoun ninguna is
eeded instead of una or alguna.
Más que. In an earlier lesson it was stated that " more
tian followed by a numeral, is más de. But if the
I made sntence is negative, más que can be used and is generally
r there w onsidered preferable.
mi not si
Lidiar is a special term limited to the killing of a bull in
bull-fight.
loorkeepj Muerto, past participle of morir , to die, is generally used
in. Whi istead of matado, the past participle of matar, to kill.
dace. Hi {atado generally refers to suicide or the slaughtering of
diametfl nimals. To be dead is estar (not ser) muerto.
Mismo. El mismo hombre = the same man.
El hombre mismo = the man himself, or, even the man.
ht. ItU Lo mismo = the same thing.
jothared Ambos = both. It may be replaced by los dos.
ne can jud Cada dos días 1 = every two days.
,de was v{ Haberla visto. Note that the pronoun object is attached
ti two tow 3 the infinitive of the auxiliary, and not to the past par-
iciple of the other verb.
wiat one of the
"
Pedir means to ask, in the sense of to beg or to demand.
i¿aofbeer,á Peguntar is to ask, in questions. To put a question to
irew near an(
be¡J 3meone = hacer una pregunta a alguien.
jce of my he Isf Heel = talón (of the foot), tacón (of the shoe).
• hehadtata nt Antes que is the conjunction introducing a clause, the
that " being omitted in English. Antes de is the pre-
: X This he
didj
osition governing a noun, pronoun, or infinitive antes is ;
; Îso bough tie adverb.
:e
round Creí encontrar. When the subject of creer is the same
^ bat therei 1
Cada, each, every, is invariable and used before singular nouns.
>\xt it can be used with plural nouns, when these are preceded by a
umeral.
of my 11
j

person as that of the following verb, the second verb i i
merely put in the infinitive, where we in English say t

üS
"I thought (that) I should". But if the subjects an v 1
different then a que clause is required. " I thought thai fatsei
you " =
Creí que Vd., etc. Id
not
Cualquier
u
not = some " or " any but " any " in th< ¿dnigl
sense of anyone you ".

mention
like to
Mirar — to look at. Whenthe a is inserted before ai idustr
inanimate object it emphasises that the looking is purposefo ieiess,
and not just a casual glance. gtaur;
[lore
Exercise 20 f sher
I. No entendemos nunca las preguntas que nos hace 6 The
profesor. 2^-Habiendo acabado su trabajo, se acost< iich i
poco después de las diez. 3. Este caballero es estimado d< t; in
todos los que le conocen (cuantos le conocen). 4. Cadi kers
tres días me convidaba a venir a verle. 5. No estoy según isee(t
si tendré la ocasión de hablarles. 6. Yo me paseaba po¡ ko on
el barrio antiguo de la ciudad, buscando una librería tile 1
7. Creí tener razón, pero es evidente que yo me engañabt ton,.
8. Antes de sentarse se quitó el sombrero. 9. Se vender

aquí libros y periódicos. 10. Se sabe bien que soy yo quier | ful
he incendiado la casa. II, Se arrojó a este pobre niña o
por la ventana. 12. Se ocultaron porque tenían miedo leeros
13. Se les ocultó en la parte más oscura del bosque. 14 any

{
Estábamos cansados cuando llegamos. 15. Creo que c uses,
tren va a pararse. 16. Llame Vd., por favor, a los guardias Ifc
me han robado. 17. Sentémonos un rato; tengo muchi r son
calor. Y yo también. 18. Hace mucho calor en esti :
época del año. 19. ¿Han visto al juez? No sabe nadi< -
dónde está. 20. Me dijo que no han escrito las cartas. I 5

visit
N'OTI
Translation VI 1
toife
[From this point onwards only one English version of thi m

Spanish passages will be given. Where the English eouivm im
lent differs considerably from the Spanish original, a litera
translation will be appended in brackets.]
In many places in Spain it is often very hot. For thi^ [;
reason, during the middle of the day the shops are shut
and people stay indoors for two hours or so (a little morí
^
—
EXERCISES 195
lie second
In order to make up for (to remake oneself of)
verb
>r less).
«11
if
his loss of time, they continue work until later than is the
the
rustom in England, and dine at eight o'clock or later, instead
í
>f at seven. Consequently, the performances in the theatres

lo not begin until nine, and many people go to bed after
^tlnidnight.
Barcelona is a commercial city, and its inhabitants are
•^rted before
ndustrious workers. j It is never very hot there. Never-
^gispurposeîeless, I found that dinner was rarely served in the
restaurants before 8 o'clock. I therefore had plenty of time
jefore supper, and I sat down at a café to drink a glass
)f sherry.
que e
The Ramblas form a
large avenue, on the two sides of
^)ajo, vhich the trams run. On the long promenade stretching
se acos
^roes estimado! >ut in the middle there are kiosks where newspapers,
* wen). Cad lowers and tobacco can be bought.

4. I was much amused
No estoy sega :o see (the seeing that
J amused me much) that parrots were . . .
Idso on sale. I watched all this with the greatest interest,

una litó
lo vhile the inhabitants, their work done, walked up and
.yo me engáñate ijown, laughing and talking.
:e
My room in the hotel looked on to this street, which was

que soy vo qoiBtikill full of people when I went to bed. But the noise did
a este pobre ni
o dot trouble me, and I slept well. The following morning
orqne tenían mieé Jie crowing of cocks awoke me apparently (to the seeming) :
ira del bosque. nany people keep them on the roofs and balconies of their
i|
15. Creo que, louses.

: tavor,
dressed quickly and had breakfast. I read the papers
I
: rato; tenjomiK for some minutes and, thinking how I was going to spend
zúo calor en esti :he day, decided to go by train to Sitges, a small town on
ml No naá the coast, not far from Barcelona. After Sitges I intended
sentólas
:o visit Tarragona, one of the oldest cities in Spain.
Notes. Casa. The following phrases are worth re-
nembering :
Casa de huéspedes = boarding-house ser muy mujer de ;
su casa = to be a good housewife poner casa = to set up

;
house ir a casa = to go home.

;
Ir en auto (vapor bicicleta) = to go by car (steamer,

,
bicycle). Generally, ir por tren. To go on horseback, on

this
f00 t =
ir a caballo, a pie.
=
I
Hacerse =
to become. ¿ Qué se ha hecho de él ? What
sor so (a
mo has become of him ? Se hizo actor =
he became an actor.
|
Exercise 21 k-i
1. 1
No
toque Vd. eso ! Lo romperá y tendrá que was
pagarlo. 2. Llegué a casa sin ver a nadie. 3. No pegut tie
tov
Vd. al pobre muchacho. Ha trabajado a más no poder, fcditerr
4. Entregúele Vd. la carta cuanto antes. 5. Vd. debería I

could <
conducir con más cuidado. 6. Hace sólo seis meses que fte
stati
aprende el español, pero lo escribe clara y correctamente, about 1
7. De vez en cuando miré por la ventana para asegurarme There

que estaba todavía allí. 8. No hable Vd. tan aprisa (tan a had lo
rápidamente). Nadie puede entenderle. 9. Los tranvíai Wing 1
pasaban a los dos lados de la avenida que se extendía desde By off,
el río hasta la estación. 10. Algunas veces hace muchc nils of
calor en esta ciudad y se debe permanecer en casa. 11, icuntai

El criado aguardaba con paciencia a su amo. 12. Mucha líe fro;
gente miraba de un modo admirador (con ojos admiradores fceir firs
las obras del célebre pintor. 13. En llegando a Madri( If wai
expliqué a mis padres que no me había sido posible* accu

volver más temprano. 14. Sin embargo encontré que nc nri
era fácil rehacerme de esta perdida de tiempo. 15. El hfl nc lid
perdido la mayor parte de su dinero. 16. De todos estos

libros el que más me gusta es aquél. 17. Tendrá (Vd.Atitv
que vestirse rápidamente para no perder el tren. 18. An- r etn
dando a lo largo de la avenida, yo pensaba cómo iba a pasai

la mañana. 19. Me acerqué silenciosamente a la casa (en)
donde los ladrones se habían ocultado. 20. Después di kth the
haber pasado dos años en una casa de huéspedes decidimoi ¡¿fa

poner casa en Burgos. 21. Se debe trabajar con diligencia
para ganar su vida. tere oí
Les.
Translation VII
Sitges not a large town. It is (it finds itself) only 4c
is
—
kilometres from Barcelona that is to say, about 25 miles —
and the train journey does not last more than three-quarten
of an hour
For
When I got there, I made my way through a narrow street
lined with picturesque houses (along which picturesque
houses aligned themselves) to a parade adorned with palm
trees. Small fishing-boats painted red were lying on the
'inine
sand, which stretched in a magnificent curve for a distance
EXERCISES 197
)f two miles. The sea was of a deep blue, and many

n people were bathing.
y tendrá
It was very pleasant, but I was not there long, for this
ittle town was one of the many which one can see on the
3- No,
;
1 más no
ra Mediterranean coast, and I was anxious to see as much as
Vd. deblT
! 5-
[ could of the historic cities of Spain. So I went back to
:he station and took the next train for Tarragona, which
I TQ
& about 60 miles from Barcelona.
apara
There were various merchant-vessels in the harbour. T
i tan
¡ta iad a look at them, and then made my way to the street
9-Lostrani[Vto
reading to the oldest portion of the city, coming, a short
aray off, upon a small park with orange trees and little
í se extendía dea
m uc walls of coloured tiles. On one side I saw a great line of

eca encasa,
nountains. On the other stretched enormous walls, which
amo. 12JMuch late from the time of the Romans, who made of this city
i ojos admirac
;heir first possession in Spain.
ieândo a Madí
It was evident (it saw itself) that the inhabitants were
iaoia sido
aot accustomed to the visits of tourists, because they looked
encontré queme wonderingly when I passed along the streets. But
lempo. did not pay any attention to that, for my interest in all
15. El [
Ú De todos [ saw was very great. At last I saw with great regret
Tendrá
17. that it was time to go down the hill leading to the station
eitren. ú As and return to Barcelona (that the hour of going down, etc.,
1 cómo iba a dsiiad arrived).
ente a la casa Notes. Encontrarse (to find oneself) is frequently used

20. Después ith the meaning of "to be particularly in relation to
tata decidii position.
,.'ircondilip Kilómetro. This form of measurement is in use every-
where on the Continent. It is worth noting that a kilo-
metre is five-eighths of a mile. In other words, 8 kms. 5 =
aailes.
Yacer (to lie). J and y are identical in sound. But it
ids important to note that * is never used as the first letter
itself) only¡ is
It is replaced by
"
•about 25 V Df a word, if the next letter is a vowel.
les-
ianthree-quí iy, or takes an h (which is an unpronounced letter) before

larti
it. For this reason ir, "to go has a present participle

leyendo, not iendo.
El mar. Mar is generally masculine. But when talking
fQlOl
idome(
of — —
the state of the sea tide, calmness, etc. it is often
feminine. It is used figuratively in the feminine in various
êíoradis^ phr;ases la mar de trabajo
: = heaps of work.
—
Hablar de mar la =
to be a sheer impossibility. To
to sea in the ordinary nautical sense is salir a la : mar
le
Encontrándome. It has been shown that object pronou fore
wan
follow an infinitive and an imperative, provided that t e
is not negative. The object pronoun is also joined on to irelytl
ought
the gerund (present participle). In such phrases as
am writing to him where, to denote that the action is
proceeding at the time of speaking, estar gerund is used, +
the object pronoun may either be joined on to the gerund
"ThR
or come before the part of estar :
Le estoy escribiendo or estoy escribiéndole.

Naranja (orange), naranjo (orange tree). Bar«
;ad t(
Exercise 22
Hace mucho tiempo que conozco a este caballero,
i.
2. Aranjuez se halla (encuentra) solamente a cuarenta resolví
kilómetros aproximadamente de Madrid. 3. No obedezco The r
siempre al amo lo que le enfada mucho.

: 4. No apague feeo
Vd. esa lámpara. No podré ver nada. 5. Mientras yo nlyto
leía (estaba leyendo) la luz se apagó. 6. ¿ Le gusta a vd. la
esta alfombra? Acabo de comprarla. 7. ¿Dónde la ha Hie:
comprado Vd. ? En casa de Fernández. 8. Todos los ts ar
pasajeros se habían acostado cuando el vapor salió a la

mar. 9. Creyó que nos habíamos ido para enfadarle. 10.
Acababa de volver de Bilbao cuando Vd. vino a vermf BjMol
11. Encontrándose cerca del puerto se dirigió a lo largo del TT-Sistlt
muelle. 12. Le pediré que me escoja un libro interesante. "Can

13. ¿ No le ve Vd. a él ? Se está dirigiendo a lo largo de la lorrow'
calle. 14. La criada me condujo a una habitación en el Dthing
segundo piso. 15. ¿De quién se estaba Vd. riendo? Del "
Thei
hermano de Juan. 16. Los dos ladrones se mataron el uno betas,
al otro. 17. Todos nos mirábamos extrañados los unoJ C:
a los otros. 18. Yendo por tren al norte de España cojo "That
siempre un resfriado. 10. Me quedaré aquí hasta eso de
chan
las seis. 20. No, yo no he visto a Carlos. Creo que está
At tj
levantándose (se está levantando).
Translation VIII He
Somepeople love writing letters. (To some people

" enthuses " them to write letters.) I detest it, especially ¡.
^
EXERCISES 199
ability,
To vhen I am on holiday.
But, nevertheless (in spite of all),
¡ had to let my
parents know how I was getting on. So,
r
Tonoim >efore leaving Tarragona, I bought some postcards. When
>ne wants stamps (when stamps need themselves), it is very
1
-
"'::ed '
ttk
joined on arely that one has to go to the post office. They can be
¡Arases as I >ought in the cafés and hotels.
' the action On my return to Barcelona I asked the proprietor of the
suse< íotel what it cost to send a card to England.
i to t "Three pesetas fifty céntimos/' he answered.
I bought a dozen stamps of the required value and
apidly wrote some cards.
Then I lit a cigarette and began to make plans. Being
n Barcelona was very pleasant, but at the end of a week
! had to return to England. I knew that Barcelona was
lot typical (a city like those of the rest) of Spain and, as
caballeroi
¡ wished to see as many aspects of the country as I could,
ciiaijenti
resolved to go to Madrid.
) obedezd The next morning I went to the tourist office in the
k apagiu Paseo de Gracia and heard the clerk recommending an old
¡entras
yj ady to go to Madrid by 'plane.
istaa " I am very much afraid," she said.
" There is no reason to be, madam," he answered. " Our
pilots are very skilful. The seats are very comfortable and
el vapor salió a che machines are of the most modern type."
pan enfadad I had not thought of going by air (flying), but after listen-
Vi vino a Tine,
jig to this conversation, the temptation seemed to me
JTCesistible.
interesan!!
" Can you reserve me a seat in the Madrid 'plane for to-
l libro
ido i lo largo de 1 morrow? " I asked, when the good lady had declared that
i habitación
en
j
lothing would induce her to leave the ground.
Vi riendo? Dj "There is just one seat left," he said. "It costs 2500
:
^ mataron uní Desetas, including the transport from the office to the
-añados los drport."
4»<k España col "That suits me," I said.
"
"Can you tell me where I
:.!íUaesol :an change some money ?
At the counter (lit. grill or little window) over there,

ir."
'The rate
of exchange to-day is 167 pesetas," said the
derk when asked him to change £15 into Spanish money
I
people, :or me. " We take a commission of 1 peseta, which
Ta some
it,
especia eaves 166 (by that which are 166). Here you have
detest
I CAv- n I UU r\ JtLr 3r MINI jfl
2490 pesetas. Two iooopeseta notes, ote«i

four 100-peseta no^
and nine io-peseta pieces. iBsre
Notes. Todo normally means " all ". Todo el día *= aT
day. Todos sus amigos « all his friends. Todos ItodcA.
with a definite article followed by an expression ot timei
means 11 every ". Todos los martes = every Tuesday. Todoi.
los meses «= every month. Todo {toda), singular, followed
by a noun, without a connecting article, generally meant
94 M
every .Todo hombre valiente *= every brave man. Todo, <
invariable, means " all " or " everything ". Dispuesto a fcâr
todo = prepared for anything (everything). A pesar J* J^s

todo = in spite of everything. Sobre todo = above all; * sc
Todos, unaccompanied by a noun, may mean every onei

Todos prometieron ayudarle =* everyone promised to hel]
him. As the object of a verb referring to people, it requiri
a. Los mató a todos =
he killed them all. Todos los que
all those who. Todo lo que sé =
all that (that which)
know. In " all of us " the " of " is not translated NosotroUf* :
mi
todos. All three =

todos tres. A whole day todo un di =
(note the order in Spanish).
" Each " every ', is cada, which can only be used
the singular cada día
: =
each day. " Each of " is c<
uno (una). Cada una de sus hermanas each (one) of =
sisters.
Se tenga. Many impersonal verbs in Spanish require
subjunctive.
Me respondió. Note the tendency in Spanish to suppl;
the pronoun object, where we should simply say " u :
replied
Unos cuantos is stronger than unos, and is equivalent
algunos (some, a few).
Pais means a country as a whole or politically. spei
Región =
a district or part of a country. Camjbo (also 1
—
a field) the country as opposed to the town. Patria is la§nific
one's own country. ??:
Hubo declarado. " I had declared " is había declarado. aces,

But after cuando and one or two other conjunctions of
time, the past definite, not the imperfect, of the auxiliary
is required, provided that the action is not repeated or (iblic.a
habitual, in which case the ordinary había construction is tt stati
used. Después que (after), apenas (hardly), en cuanto («T

EXERCISES 20I
soon as) are, in addition to cuando, the commonest expres-

sions requiring this tense.
Exercise 23
«ion of
tin i. Como
(puesto que) no habfa recibido la carta, ful a
s
%. hik 4a oficina de Correos. 2. En cuanto se hubo recibido la
Mollowi looticia todos los habitantes se aparejaron a defender la
er
%meai ciudad. 3. Cervantes nació el veintinueve de septiembre
* ro4 Ide mil quinientos cuarenta y siete. 4. Las compañías de
ferrocarriles de este país emplean unas cien mil personas.
i fm 5. Más de siete millones de personas viven dentro de cinco
= above millas de la Plaza de Trafalgar. 6. Doscientos cincuenta
i every on
y siete pasajeros se ahogaron cuando se fué al fondo el
isedto Darco-correo, no muy lejos de la costa española. 7. Cuatro-
ejtreqiiiriBcientos noventa caballos se vendieron esta semana. 8.
kk(¡ui Me han robado quinientas cuarenta pesetas. 9. Los
lat which) sábados no voy nunca a la escuela. 10. ¿ A cuántos estare-
ed:fair Estaremos a veinte. II. Hoy vamos a
mos mañana?
•témí Toledo, no volveremos antes de pasado mañana. 12,
Fuimos anoche al puerto, de donde debía salir el barco-
/be used correo para Mallorca.
I
13. Me han dicho que, todos los
of'isd días, bebe una botella entera de Jerez (vino de Jerez). 14.
No se puede entrar en el palacio los martes. 15. No me
oj
¡queda nada de todo lo que me dió Vd. anteayer. 16. Esta

calle se llama la " Avenida del dos de mayo 17. Me parece
a mí que la primavera es la estación más deliciosa del año.
" Mil y una Noches 19. No
ihtosuppí 18. No he leído nunca las
say: "b >perdí cien libras esterlinas sino ciento una. 20. Estaremos
Madrid hasta el diez de octubre.
Translation IX
I spent the rest of the morning exploring the old quarter
of Barcelona. I went to the Cathedral. The outside was
magnificent, but the interior was too dark to allow me to
appreciate its beauty. Afterwards I went to see the old
>paJ ac es, of which the most interesting is the Generalidad,
¡¡¿fftÁ
i
the headquarters of the Government,
auxiliad
Formerly it was a royal palace, but Spain is now a Re-
h
public, and Catalonia is, up to a certain point, an independ-
repica i
ent state. The guards outside wear a very peculiar uni-

iStruction
form which dates more or less from the 14th century. In
an inner courtyard fountains and orange trees are to be seen, h us
Near the Generalidad is the Palace of Justice, with a tor- jjexprf
toise carved on the wall, an ironical symbol of the slowness fytt

of justice, which might also refer to other countries besides lies
Spain. f occuf
In the afternoon went up by funicular to the summit

I Jeñrst
of Montjuich, which dominates the city, and looked at the janai

buildings and gardens, remains of the great Exhibition ¡(inserí
which was held (had place) there some years ago. fcown ¡
There is there an aerial railway which goes direct from' fok

Montjuich to the harbour, and I made my way theret i
| charac
taking a return ticket. ! j :: h S]
From the height of the railway the boats looked tiny, and Mtm
presently (at the little space of time) I thought that I f¡ó¡
should find myself the next day at a much greater height eperfec
above the ground. I had been amused when the old lady
had refused to travel (the travelling) by aeroplane, but at aid belo:
that moment I myself could not help thinking (could no

less than think) that I had never travelled by air. Perhaps,
m^
after all, I had been a little hasty.
For this reason I was depressed when I arrived at the t
E]j
hotel; but a good supper and a glass of claret revived sko

my spirits, and I found myself thinking calmly of my
journey. But in spite of this I did not sleep as well ai
usual (as I am accustomed), and I was already awake when encuei
M ¡
the cocks, discharging their office of "knockers up ,
(awakeners) began to sing. |l aprc

Notes. Explorando. This might be translated " ill
exploring". But remember once more that the insertioi ¡de
^
prof
of en in the Spanish would give the meaning " having
'
explored ". ^
Cuartel general. Both the definite article (" the ") an< ¡¿g^
the indefinite article (" a ") are generally omitted in Spanisl
when used before a noun in apposition i.e., when the seconc
:
^ J
noun is merely explanatory of the one before it and coul< ^

be omitted without making the sentence any the lesi ^
'
grammatical. In English, on the other hand, the artick c ja

d j a
is nearly always supplied in these circumstances. There if
another instance of the same omission later in the extrad 'Inprin
(restosde la Gran Exposición). Remember, incidentally 1 the

Coi
that the Spanish do not use the indefinite article before I ^

NIJH
EXERCISES 203
.«ice,
loun used after "to be", as though it were an adjective,
withato
to express some quality or characteristic.
^ conntries besidi
Soy español (adjective). Soy profesor (noun).
The second, in indicating something about the nature
^ t0 the
summi
Dr occupation of the person, is just as fully an adjective as
But if there
:he first and, therefore, the article is omitted.
& an additional qualifying adjective, then the article must
oe inserted. Es un profesor muy conocido =
he is a well-
¡oiown professor.
Patio. Here a large courtyard. But the small patio is
i characteristic feature of many houses, particularly in
South Spain or Latin America.
i tiny, an
Además = besides (adverb). Además de (prep.).
jhtthatj
Fué un palacio. Note the tense. One might expect the
iter tajl
mperfect, with the meaning of " used to be", but the
ie old lad
Spanish view is that the whole thing is over and done with,
me, but i
aid belongs wholly to the past, so that the past definite is
(could a -cquired.
Perhaps
Exercise 24
£ I arrived at tt El palacio ocupa un área de más de quinientos pies
1.
:
s oi revive
claret cuadrados. 2. Mi hija tiene solamente diez años pero es
:zi calmly mj i.a primera
of de su clase. 3. La distancia de Barcelona a
5 well .a frontera es de más de cien kilómetros. 4. Este cuento
iwáewM $e encuentra en el capítulo diez y siete del libro. 5. De
up' nañana en ocho días partiremos para Salamanca, capital
¿ers
ie la provincia. 6. El río es ancho de treinta metros y

be translated
"|
profundo de cinco (El río tiene 30 metros de anchura y
the d e profundidad). 7. Aquella señora no es española sino
insertiq !¡
havÜKrancesa. 8. Deberemos volver a Madrid dentro de cinco

1
días. 9. El tren debe salir a las tres menos cuarto. 10.
jan La biblioteca de mi tío contiene centenares de libros.
ie 11.
iSpanfl Se mató (asesinó) a Enrique cuarto de Francia en mil seis-
thesecoftáentos diez. 12. No puedo menos de pensar lo que ie ha
and cou» lucedido. 13. Acababan de dar las siete cuando llegué al
puerto.
the lei
14. Más de dos docenas de personas se dirigían
.r hand,
the Hcl|tiacia la iglesia.
a
15. No me gusta este libro. He leído
nances. Ther^J 1
In printed time-tables the 24-hour system is in use ad elsewhere
'^btheextrj m the Continent. To avoid confusion between a.m. and p.m.
Giber,
2.45 p.m. would be 14.45 (by the addition of 12), but this usage is
beforej mostly confined to writing, not speaking.
20 4 TEACH YOURSELF SPANISH
ritot
desde el primer capítulo hasta la página noventa y dos sin
encontrar nada interesante. 16. Carlos cuarto sucedió a
Carlos tercero el doce de agosto de mil setecientos ochenta
to
y ocho. 17. Cada uno sabe que un día es la séptima parte ping
Wewi
de una semana y que diez es la mitad de veinte. 18. Luis
catorce tenía setenta y siete años cuando murió en mil lithab
19. Me quedaré aquí hasta poco antes ill loe

setecientos quince.
de las seis. 20. Durante el verano del año pasado fui por
segunda vez a San Sebastián, ciudad muy agradable. o
Bt the
Translation X id the
I dressed hurriedly, packed my bag (did the suit-case) Je land
and had breakfast. Afterwards I paid the bill. The ser- lid I ge
vice was included, an extra charge of 10 per cent, had been note
added to the account (to the expenses), but I gave the ialhí
waiter fifteen pesetas, with which he was (remained) very Notes
pleased. mik
I told the proprietor to have my bag brought down (that ú
they should bring down the bag), and the porter called cow if,
a taxi. I got in, and the porter told the driver to take
me (that he should take me) to the offices of the L.P.A.E,
(Líneas Postales Aéreas Españolas). led in \
I was glad to see that there was no wind, but nevertheless

I was a trifle nervous. They had told me that passengers
could take with them 15 kilograms (about 32 lbs.) of
luggage, but as my bag weighed a little more, I had to pay
5 pesetas excess (of difference)
. They looked at my passport
and ticket. Afterwards they weighed me. Wnen the
officerwas sure (assured himself) that my camera was in
my bag and not in my pocket, I got into the bus, where p the
p
lows
already a dozen other passengers were waiting. t
We left shortly after, and arrived at the airport. We got K0 CC
into an aeroplane, whose wings were painted yellow and red, Simila
the national colours of Spain. The pilot and wireless iptain
operator (telegraphist) took their seats, the motors began 10 on
to turn and the machine began to move over the field at

increasing speed (increasing its speed). I held my
breath
for a moment when a slight lurch warned me that we had
left the ground.
I am not one of those people who can stand on the point
of a steep rock and look down(wards), but very soon I got
—
EXERCISES 205
used to the sensation. In five minutes I was enjoying my-

self, in spite of the fact that once or twice, when the machine
jot into one of those air pockets, it seemed that it was
joing to fall rapidly.
l 18, We went up very high, and flew over a carpet of clouds
^ en mj with a brilliant sun. Shortly after the clouds disappeared,
¿
pocoante¡ and I looked downwards to where a wide expanse of ground
uadofoípjj was visible. It looked flat, although there are considerable
chains of mountains between Barcelona and Madrid. At
4ast the plane began to come down, and for a moment I
had the sensation which one feels on going down in a lift.
he suit-cai We landed with a perceptible bump. The plane stopped,
1 The se¿ and I got out with a dull humming in my ears caused by
at. the noise of the engines, to remind me (make me remember)
l
v
that I had just had my first experience of flying (of the air).
nained) veri Notes. Desayuno (breakfast), almuerzo (lunch), and
comida (dinner) or cena (supper) are the nouns for the
various meals corresponding to the verbs desayunar, almor-
: ner called xar, comer and cenar respectively.
iver to tali Pintadas de amarillo, note the de untranslated in English.
kLFÜ Hacerme recordar =
to make me remember. Racer is
used in various phrases followed by an infinitive :
neverthetal
Hacer saber = to let know, to send word.
t pa
Hacer entrar = to show (someone) in.
Another common expression is "to have something
done i.e., when you do not actually do it yourself, but
V " get " it done. For instance, " he had a house built "'.
.. it
Here " built " is rendered by the infinitive in Spanish, not
.
3¡era was i|
kÜ whMi
the past participle, and the object (house, in this case)
is, when
follows the infinitive =
hizo construir una casa, or, better,
'* se hizo construir una casa =
he had a house built for himself.
We got
Similarly, el capitán hizo fusilar a los prisioneros the =
iowandq
captain had the prisoners shot.
wirel(
ad
To order is generally mandar.
.otors begal
Mandó a su criado traer el vino = he ordered his servant
thee field
cto bring the wine.
Jj
,v bre;
twel
Exercise 25
i. Cuando hubo matado guardia civil, huyó el ladrón
al
A the pompara ocultarse en los bosques.2. El rey hizo matar a
vsoon sus enemigos. 3. Le tengo por un pintor del mayor

:
2o6 TEACH YOURSELF SPANISH

talento. 4. Se dice que una batalla está para tener lugar
entre las -tropas de los dos partidos. 5. Eso está por ver.¡ ti.
Me parece a mí que ninguno de los dos tiene bastante dinero It

*
para pagar a los soldados. 6. Mi hermana está mala (en- i aked
ferma), por tanto he venido por ella. 7. Mandamos a mi idler

hermano por el médico, quien dice que no hay por qué iter,
asustarse. 8. He dicho a mi librero que me envié todos los jjs •
libros escritos por Palacio Valdés. 9. La casa, cuya puerta 'fe

está pintada de rojo pertenece a un amigo nuestro qua lay
tiene noventa años. 10. Necesito dinero para comprar una u It í
casa. Mi primo ha prometido prestármelo a tres por ciento, fe

11. Me es imposible pagarle a Vd. una suma tan con- junde:
siderable, puesto que gano solamente tres libras esterlina! ¡at it
por semana. 12. Cuando yo estudiaba para médico, vivía¡ plis-

en París. 13. En cuanto hubo empezado a moverse el | folios
aeroplano, cerré los ojos. 14. Para un niño de ocho año$, fol;
escribe muy bien. 15. Estaba para salir, cuando vino Vd. :>
a verme. 16. Pasó por uno de los hombres más inteligentes gerve
de la aldea. 17. Por falta de tiempo no he leído esta v
mañana el periódico. ¿Quiere Vd. decirme lo que ha I»
sucedido ? 18. Lo haré por Vd. con mucho gusto. 19. A Ut I :
pesar del calor que hacía decidimos ir a pie. 20. Tendré] ¿¡^
Vd. que vestirse precipitadamente para no llegar tarde á j
la estación.
Translation XI lb
After leaving the bus which took me from the aerodrome

to the Air Company's office in Madrid, I asked the official to
recommend me a hotel where the prices were (might be)
not very high. He mentioned (indicated) several : I
called a taxi to go to the first, which was not very far from
—
the Prado the Prado is one of the most famous picture-
galleries in the world.
The taxi stopped at the door of the hotel. I got down,
and told the driver to wait a moment. I went in and asked kin
the manager if he had a single room vacant.
" Are you thinking of staying (being) long ? " he asked,
" No. I only require a room for three nights."
In that case we can give you a room on the second»
If you want full pension, it costs 500 pesetas."
1
floor. 1
V
" That suits me " (that is very well), I said.
EXERCISES 207
^ tener
paid the taxi-driver, and the hotel porter picked up my
I
'«típorvá
>ag. We went up in the lift and arrived at my room.
It was too late for dinner, and I was not hungry, so I
mala (es
.sked for a cup of coffee and read a paper which someone
lad left on one of the tables in the lounge. Soon I fixed my
.ttention on the entertainments guide (notice of shows),
nd saw that in one of the theatres they were performing
ion
!Women's Town " (English title—" The Women have their
Way").
>mprax
it i s always interesting to be present at a theatre in a
uní
Vr oreign country, but it is also very difficult for a stranger

cienft
:accoi
o understand what it is about (of what it is a question, of
.rainal
?hat it treats). But I had read this work translated into
nv4 inglish, and consequently thought that I should be able
30 follow the plot of the comedy without difficulty.

lloverse j
So I got up from the sofa and asked the manager if he

::.oi,
-
rinol irould telephone to the theatre in order that they could
^ eserve me a seat.
Certainly, sir. When do you want to go ? "
I should like a seat for this evening's performance.
;
¡o,
j lc
4»3ut I don't want a stall something that is (may be)
j •
lendr iheaper.'
-
-
—
egar tarde
The manager unhooked the receiver.
" Central, give me (put me with) 47,98."
He waited a moment.
"Have you any seats for to-night?" He went on.
íe aerodroil
What seats do I want ? Only one. Have you something
«
lin the pit stalls ? Good. How much is it ? A hundred

pesetas ? Very well. Thank you."
h
He replaced (hung up) the receiver (the instrument) and

ery far M|iturned to me.
" The performance begins at nine, sir."

Notes. Conductor. This means a leader or guide, or
I nt M
the conductor of an orchestra. But since conducir means
to drive, the noun means the driver, not, for instance, the
" conductor " of a tram. Chófer is the more usual word for
a car-driver.
L Asistir may mean to aid, though ayudar is more common.
:
the secón i Asistir a means " to be present at
9
.
Tratarse = to be a question of, to be about.

Si podría. Remember that the future and conditional
can be used after si meaning " whether but not after s\
meaning " if
¡
\r¿
Exercise 26
mt
I. Mi padre se acuesta siempre antes de las once de la ;
noche, pero no duerme bien. 2. Dése Vd. prisa. El tren, r

está empezando a moverse. 3. Pienso alquilar un autc U
por seis semanas. ¿ Cuánto cuesta hacerlo ? 4. No cuelgue
Vd. el receptor. Quiero convidar a su amigo a acom Ljifj
pañarnos al teatro. 5. No
se encuentra a nadie en esü
calle. 6. Se sabe bien que el prisionero hirió a tres guardias L
de los cuales murió uno antes del anochecer. 7. ¿A qu^j r
hora se cierran las tiendas los jueves? Alas seis y media, |g

r
8. El almuerzo se sirvió ayer a mediodía en vez de a la una

9. Se vistieron rápidamente para no llegar tarde a k fcwa
estación. 10. Me pidió que le recomendase un hotel \¡ t
cerca del centro de la ciudad. 11. Hace seis semanas que m

aprendo a tocar el piano. 12. Hasta hace poco tiempe U
no había casi ningún extranjero en este país. 13. Le L
pregunté si podría venir con nosotros pero se fué sin decii, r
nada. 14. ¿Le ha visto Vd. como pasaba por las callesÜ r
No, señor. No le he visto. 15. Advertí que (me fijé ei
que) la puerta estaba abierta, lo que me sorprendió. 16 j¿
Mis dos hermanas se encuentran cada cuatro días ei ^
casa de la Señora Martinez. 17. No tengo ahora el diñen, L
de Vd., pero se lo daré el martes próximo. 18. Hastc
luego. Estaremos muy contentos de verle a las cuatro y r
cuarto; 19. Más de cien personas murieron de hambnj ^
en esta ciudad durante el último año de la guerra. 20; I-
Mañana por la mañana tendremos que desayunar(nos) anteíj ^

de las ocho. y |
Translation XII
I arrived very early at the theatre, and an attendant t
showed me my seat. I was glad to find that I could seej ^r
the stage well (glad of the well that I saw the stage). I hadj ffi
j
to wait half an hour for the performance to begin (until the v
performance might begin), but I was not bored. I was very¡ j

much entertained by watching the spectators come in.
Soon after a gentleman sat down beside me, and recognising, ¡
evidently by my clothes, that I was a foreigner, he asked

EXERCISES 209
ne if it was my first visitto Madrid was the first time

(if it
[ was visiting Madrid). I replied that it was (that yes),

ind that it was also the first time I had been to a Spanish
;heatre (that I was present at).
concede»
" The authors of this work, the Quintero brothers, have
nsa.
Ei
written man}' good plays, haven't they? " (is it not true?),
[ asked.
cuelpe
" Yes,more than fifty. Spanish dramatists are very
^ a acoQ.
prolific. But modern authors cannot compare in this
"
a
*espect with Lope de Vega, who, by the way (let it be said
esta
in passing), was born in Madrid.

" His life was eventful (full of events). He was the son
seisymefii
oí a poor tradesman, but a noble interested himself in the
idea la unit
boy and sent him to study at the University of Alcalá. When
iae was still a young man he was banished from Madrid for
a
on notd
,§ve years. Then he sailed in the 'Invincible Armada*
^Wlaent by King Philip II. He returned safe and sound,
ind even wrote a poem against Drake. Afterwards he
:ab w 'began to write comedies.
!
By the end of his life he had
m
3j
written more than 1800, of which 450 have survived.

™
Moreover, his works were written in verse, not in prose.
¥ a Many of them were cloak-and-sword comedies, dealing
' '
with honour and the customs of the nobility in those days.

It}
días "
itro
Playwrights of all countries have found a model from his
ora dine^ el
plots the works of Calderón were also very popular.
:
Hast
18, " But the dramas of both belong to a past age. The
!ascuatro
writers of to-day are observers of real life, and the Quintero
!
le
brothers are excellent dramatists nevertheless, some prefer
iiambn
:
th e WO rks of Benavente and Sierra.

na 2Q
If you go to Seville
nos; ante
;-
w
yOU in find a fountain surrounded with stone benches with
shelves containing the works of the Quintero brothers.
There are not many people who find themselves honoured
with a monument during their lifetime.'"
I
attendan
Th e gentleman had no time to tell me anything more,
:1 could í
I
dor the theatre was already full, there was not a vacant seat,
[hai
and the curtain rose.
r
Notes. Extranjero (adj.)
until tin
foreign; =
(noun) foreigner,
i Al extranjero abroad. Extraño = strange, odd. =
me Contestar que si (que no).
ia
This phrase is used when the
words " yes " and " no " are not in inverted commas.
X be é\ But Sí, le contesté =
Yes, I answered (him).
!
2io TEACH YOURSELF SPANISH

¿No es verdad ? This phrase is equivalent to " Isn't :
it? ", " didn't you? added to a sentence in English

", etc.,
to make it interrogative. As the literal meaning is " isn't
that so? ", it can be used for any of the various English:
phrases "wasn't it?", "won't they?", etc. In con-i
versation it is frequently abbreviated simply to ¿verdad? t
or sometimes to an enquiring ¿ no ? But the full phrase is
the safest to use.
Enviar a. Note the preposition. A is the pre-
position used before infinitives after many verbs of motion.!
Also after verbs of readiness or determination for action)
(prepararse a). Also after reflexive verbs of continuance or¡
habit, acostumbrarse a, dedicarse a (to apply oneself to, give
oneself up to). It is worth noting, too, that many verbs
beginning with the prefixes a ah, ac, ante, ad, ar, as, or at,
t
are followed by a (atenerse a lo seguro »

to keep on the safe
side).
Hoy = to-day. Hoy día or hoy en día, nowadays.
Sea »* let it be (present subjunctive of ser).
Exercise 27
i. El Vesuvio, uno de los volcanes más famosos del
mundo está situado (se halla) en el centro de Italia, cerca
de Nápoles. 2. Washington es la capital o ciudad principal of the
de los Estados Unidos, pero Nueva York es la ciudad más;

grande del Nuevo Mundo. 3. Muchos de los edificios en
varios barrios de Nueva York son extremadamente altos.
4. Reconocí tanto por el color de su tez como por su traje
que era extranjero. 5. Cuando tenía solamente ocho años
empezó a estudiar la música, pero después se hizo actor.
6. El viejo Carlos fué muchas veces al Canadá, no es
verdad? 7. El clima de la América del Norte es mucho
más riguroso que el de España. 8. La Habana, capital
de la isla de Cuba, es conocida por todo el mundo por losi its
cigarros, a los cuales ha dado su nombre. 9. Las máquinas

de escribir son muy útiles, sobre todo hoy día cuando
mucha gente escribe de una manera casi ilegible. 10. El
cafeto es una planta, el color de cuyos frutos se cambia de
verde en colorado. 11. Cuando los granos se tuestan
toman un color castaño oscuro. 12. El rey Jorge sexto
acaba de volver de Francia, habiendo pasado cuatro día*
EXERCISES 211
en la capital francesa. 13. El general mandó construir

murallas de piedra. 14. Tenderos, labradores, comer-
igis
*
—
ciantes todos hacen cuanto pueden (a más no poder)
Englii para ganar su vida. 15. Los dos autores son excelentes
In con« dramáticos, pero ni el uno ni el otro puede ser comparado con
Benavente quien, dicho sea de paso, vive ahora en
Valencia. 10. Los libros que tratan de la ciencia de la
1 —
economía política son muy numerosos el leerlos me aburre
tie muchísimo. 17. Es fácil acostumbrarse (or hacerse) al
r ruido y bullicio de la vida moderna. 18. El nombre
for actioi I Pacífico " es impropio la última vez que fui a Hong Kong
:
íiauanceji yo me mareé mucho. 19. Alejandro el Grande murió a la

^' to, gin edad de treinta años, habiendo conquistado la mayor parte
íany verbi del mundo conocido. 20. Los cables de acero son más
r
,«,or<if (
fuertes que las cuerdas de cáñamo.
on the sai
Translation XIII
The Women have their Way " is a very amusing comedy.
I
It deals with a young lawyer from Madrid who comes to
work in a small Andalusian town. While he is walking
through the streets he sees a girl who is passing on the other
side, and happens (coincidence gives) that he notices
it
that she is pretty. This is enough for the talkative women
of the place. They are convinced that the lawyer has
fallen in love with this girl, and, despite his denials, they
insist on asserting that he wants to marry her. They talk
to him so frequently of his supposed love affair that he
ends by thinking that perhaps it would be pleasant enough
to be married to her, and the play ends with their engage-
ment.
This comedy is an entertaining and excellent satire of
provincial life. Thanks to my knowing the work before-
hand (to that I knew), I had no difficulty in appreciating
its points and its charm. Besides, the actors who played
the principal parts were so good that their gestures and the
expression of their faces were almost sufficient to reveal the
sense of the play.
It was after midnight when I left the theatre, but I
didn't feel inclined to go to bed. It was a perfect night.
The streets were well lighted, and I walked for a while,
looking at the passers-by and trying to remember what I
. «

knew of the history of this city, which contains round about
a million inhabitants.
It was Philip II who established his Court at Madrid in
1561 and made the city the capital of his kingdom. It was
the same king who constructed the monastery of the
Escurial, that great building which I decided to visit the
next day. The successors of Philip II embellished (beauti-
fied) the city, especially Charles III. From his time date
the Academy of Fine Arts and the Prado Museum, in which
are to be found some of the early works of Velázquez and
Goya, and, above all, many pictures of El Greco, Murillo
and Ribera. I should have to find a moment to visit the
Prado. Before leaving England they told me that I must ¡
cie:
not fail to see the National Palace, situated in the Plaza larl
de Oriente, which contains, amongst other things, the an del
finest collection of arms and armour in the world. lava j
Meanwhile I had no idea in what part of the city I was, fa

for I (had) walked a long while after leaving the theatre. tree: :
At length I asked a gentleman to show me the best way to pofe

get back to the hotel. He pointed out (told me of) a tram k
which passed quite close to it. I waited at a stopping-place, fi \
and had the luck to find a seat in a crowded tram (in which Danes
there were a great many people).
Notes. Se fija en que. Some verbs require a pre- i'.
position to connect them with their object. When they lb
have a dependent clause instead of a simple noun object
the preposition is retained in Spanish, and connected with
the dependent clause by que. For instance alegrarse de, qui
:
to be glad of.
=
Me alegro de que Vd. haya llegado I am glad you have
come (subjunctive used after a verb expressing an emotion). The
Casar with an object means either to perform the marriage
service or to give someone away in marriage. Casarse is
to get married. Casarse con is to marry someone i.e., to
:
be either the bride or bridegroom.

Termina por creer. Por is used before an infinitive with
the meaning of " by ", with verbs of beginning and ending.
Desarrollar (or desempeñar) un papel =
to play a part.
—
E hizo note the change from y to e before a word
beginning with * or hi (h being unpronounced)
Dejar «= to leave, in the sense of to leave something
'
EXERCISES 213
-bout behind. It also means to let, in the sense of to allow. Dejar

de means to leave off (i.e., to stop doing something). No
Ijkdridj iiejar de means to go on doing a thmg, or not to fail to do it.
= Itwa
ery Exercise 28
to viát
a¡ 1. La vieja María está muy Teme que su hija
inquieta.
Meauft ^se case con el Sr. Siento que Vd. haya
González. 2.
date : le dije la semana pasada.
olvidado lo que 3. Aguardo (a)
mwhici a alguien que pueda conducirme a la estación. 4. Aguardo a
ûez and mi primo que ha prometido encontrarme aquí. 5. No quiero
:
Guillo ¡hablar a aquel hombre. Me pide siempre que le preste

o visit t^j dinero. 6. El diputado propondrá que todas las tiendas
m I nroi se cierren los sábados. 7. Es cierto que el obispo los
the casará. 8. Es preciso que lleguemos a la frontera antes
,hinp, tbj del anochecer. 9. Tendremos que hallarle dondequiera se
L haya ocultado. 10. Es dudoso que este actor sea capaz de
I wai, 1 desempeñar un papel tan importante, n. Terminaré por
he r creer que Vd. no quiere ayudarnos. 12. ;Cree Vd. que
t way to i podremos convencerle ? 13. Diré a mi empleado que vaya
of¡ a train I luego a la oficina de la Compañía de Aviación. 14. ¿ Niega
'Vd. que el acusado haya injuriado al demandante de la
'iflwhii manera más imperdonable? 15. Sentimos que le sea
i imposible a Vd. asistir a (presenciar) la representación.
ie a pr ; 16. Estaba contento de fijarme en que el teatro estaba
tai th( lleno de gente. 17. Haré todo lo posible para volver a
)im objei verle a Vd. 18. Me asombro de lo que ha sucedido. 19.
?cted wii Me asombro de que Vd. no se haya acostumbrado a trabajar
1 aquí. 20. Les dije (a ellos) que no tenía hambre.
Translation XIV
you havi
enioi
The Escurial an amazing building. It stands some
is
:
-
arriagi
distance from Madrid, and is surrounded by huge mountains.
Before going there I did what I could to learn something of
its history. This is how it came to be built (It came to be
built as follows).
tivewitl
In the 16th century a battle was fought near the French
ídem
town of St. Quentin. During the contest the Spanish
artillery destroyed a church dedicated to St. Lawrence, and
Philip II made a vow to build a monastery in honour of this
>
a woii
saint. He ordered his architects to construct the building
in the form of a gridiron, in order to commemorate the
manner in which (how) St. Lawrence was martyred. A
building on the east front, which served as a royal residence,
represents the handle of the gridiron, and the bars of the
same are represented by buildings which stretch in straight
lines in the interior of the frame formed by the walls. The
outer part contains no fewer than iioo windows and 15
doors. Over the main door stands (is erected) a statue
of St. Lawrence. This entry gives access to the Court of
the Kings, and farther on stands a granite church, crowned
by an enormous dome.
In this church there are 48 altars, and in the main chapel
are the statues of Philip II and other Spanish monarchs.
Below the high altar is the mausoleum where many of the
Spanish kings rest (are buried) I saw the royal apartments,
.
including the simple gloomy room in which Philip II died in

1598. I looked at innumerable pictures and works of art
of all kinds. Nevertheless, and in spite of the splendour
of the building, the whole atmosphere of the place is
indescribably sad and seems to reflect the cold, tormented
spirit of the man who constructed it. It cost an immense
sum and took 22 years to complete (they delayed 22 years
in completing it).
Itwas an imposing building, but it did not satisfy me so
much as other things which I saw in Madrid. The Man-
zanares, on the banks of which Madrid is situated, is not
an important river. Especially in summer it is reduced to
a diminutive stream, but there are one or two beautiful
bridges over it, and in the neighbourhood some fine churches
which date from the 17th century.
But what most attracted my
attention was the Retiro,
a park like that of the Bois de Boulogne in Paris, with lakes,
fountains and a Zoological Garden besides spacious avenues.
In winter it is often very cold in Madrid, for the city
stands 635 metres (2000 ft.) above sea level. But in spring
and autumn it is delightful, and I decided to return there
as soon as I had (should have) an opportunity.
Notes. San. This, the abbreviation of Santo, takes the
short form before the name of a saint, provided that the
name does not begin with To or Do. The feminine form is
always Santa. San Pedro (St. Peter), but Santo Tomás (St.
Thomas).
EXERCISES 215
Servir de =to serve as a. Note that the indefinite

article is not used in the Spanish equivalent.
Sencillo y lúgubre. When two adjectives qualify the
same noun, their position is not invariable. We know that
short conventional adjectives come before the noun, so that
both may precede. On the other hand, if one is an adjective
of colour or nationality, the noun will be sandwiched between
the two. Thirdly, both adjectives may follow the noun.
Whether preceding or following the noun, the adjectives
are liable to be connected by y. This is so if each is equally
independent of the noun. But if the noun and one of the
adjectives form a closely connected whole, the second
adjective is joined on without y as a connecting link :
e.g., cuestiones económicas importantes.

This is in contrast with el frío y atormentado espíritu and
with la sencilla y lúgubre habitación, which occurs in this
extract.
A orillas = on the banks. Note the omission of the
article in certain prepositional phrases. En casa, etc. On
the other hand, a la escuela =
to school.
Riachuelo. A diminutive of río. Spanish has many
diminutives, some affectionate, others depreciatory,
formed by additions to the normal form of a word, though
sometimes with a slight alteration needed to make the word
easy to pronounce. There is no great need for the student
to be able to use them himself, but he is liable to meet them
fairly often in reading.
For instance pobre
: = pobrecillo, madre =madrecita.
These are affectionate, meaning something like " nice
little " dear little ", or " poor little ".
Casita mm a nice little house. But casucha, and still more
casucho, are decidedly uncomplimentary to the building.
Similarly riachuelo means, rather contemptuously, " a
wretchéd stream
little Aldehuela is a nasty little village
—what in the United States might be tersely termed a
r dump This is one of the ways in which Spanish is a
language capable of infinitely fine shades of meaning.
Somerset Maugham, by the way, stated in " Don Fernando
an interesting book on Spain, that the Spanish language is
finer than its literature.
2l6 TEACH YOURSELF SPANISH
Exercise 29
i. Ordenó a su criado que le despertara de madrugada
para que tuviese tiempo de acabar su trabajo. 2. ¿Cree
Vd. que va a llover? 3. Vamos al teatro a menos que (a
no ser que) Vd. prefiera quedarse en casa. 4. Estaba con-
tento de que ellos no hubieran olvidado lo que les había
dicho. 5. Me pidió que me diera prisa, pues quería que
llegásemos antes del anochecer. 6. Me dijo que importaba
que nos diésemos prisa en caso de que lloviese. 7. Que todo
esté listo para cuando él vuelva. 8. Le prestaré a Vd. mis
zapatos a condición de que Vd. me los restituya (or res-
tituyera) mañana. 9. Prometió enviarme el libro luego
que lo hubiera leído. 10. Cuando hubo leído (or después de
haber leído) el periódico, me lo dió. 11. Hasta que hubiere
recibido del amo una carta, me quedaré aquí. 12. Nos
asombramos de que no nos hubiese escrito. 13. Temíamos
que ella estuviese mala. 14. Haga Vd. todo lo que le diga.
15. Andaré por las calles hasta que le encuentre (or en-
contrare). 16. ¿ Supone Vd. que ella se haya enamorado de
él? 17. Es posible que yo compre una casa en Burgos.
18. Es posible que él viviese en los Estados Unidos. 19.
Luego que él se muera, supongo que su casa sirva de museo.
20. Trabajó con celo para que sus niños no muriesen de
hambre.
Translation XV
The day of my departure arrived. In the morning I
went out to take a final stroll (to give a walk) through the
city, and bought several small presents for my parents.
Afterwards I had my hair cut. I returned to the hotel,
did my packing and had (took) lunch. I had taken my
ticket the day before, and early in the afternoon I paid my
bill, and with great regret hailed a taxi to take me to the
North station.
This time I did not get a carriage to myself (for me alone).
Two men were already seated, and one of them was talking
incessantly to his companion about motor-cars. Not long
before he had bought a second-hand car, and had been on a
journey from Madrid to the South of Spain. As far as I
EXERCISES 217
could (for that which I could) understand, the journey had

not been a success. The brakes did not work well. He had
had an accident, the tyres burst, and at last he drove (put
himself) into a roadside ditch. The other man began, in his
turn, to talk about business. Apparently he was a stock-
broker, and spoke of dividends and shares and the economic
depression. He ended by reading aloud a letter from the
director of a joint-stock company. His companion en-
deavoured to listen attentively while (he was) reading a
newspaper, and I looked out of the window. The other
was still talking when I came back after dinner from the
restaurant car, but fortunately they got out at Irún, the
frontier town. I slept fairly well, and awoke when we were
near Paris. When we arrived I had just time to pick up
a taxi and go to the Gare du Nord to take the boat-train,
and we arrived at Dover soon after five. It seemed strange
to be back in England. A man who was travelling in the
same carriage to London as myself, seeing the labels on my
case, spoke to me about Spain. I told him that I had had
a most enjoyable time there (had passed it admirably)
and wanted to return, as there were many interesting things
I wanted to see.
" For one thing," I said, " because I have not seen the
Alhambra."
A workman who was in the corner seat opposite grinned.
u
You won't be able to see it now. It's very difficult to
recognise Leicester Square nowadays. They've pulled
down the Alhambra. There's a cinema there instead " !
Notes. Padres. Remember that this, besides being the

plural of father, means parents. Parientes = relations.
El pelo. Remember, also, that before clothes or parts
of the body the definite article is used in Spanish instead of
the possessive, the ownership being made clear by insertion
of the appropriate personal pronoun before the verb.
La víspera = the day before ; not to be confused with
ayer, which merely means yesterday.
Coche. Originally a coach or carriage, but now used as
one of the words for a car. Coche de carrera = a touring
car; coche de salón = a saloon car :
" to go by car " is
generally, however, ir en auto.
Bolsa, with a capital letter, means the Stock Exchange
(French —La Bourse) ;
bolsillo, the usual name for a purse, is
really a diminutive of bolsa,
Una carta. This was a business letter. It probably
began Muy estimado Señor X. (Dear Mr. X.) Dear
:
Sir = Muy señor mío. To a friend one might write Querido

González (Dear Smith), or, a little more warmly, Mi querido
amigo. Querer sometimes means " to love not only
" to wish " or " want hence its use in this connection,
but it is fairly formal, and does not necessarily denote any
degree of intimacy. At the end of a business letter, ad-
dressed to a man, the letters Q.B.S.M. or Q.S.M.B. are
likely to be found immediately before the signature. They
stand for que besa sus manos (who kisses your hands). If
the recipient is a lady, she may well find Q.B.S.P. (who
kisses your feet). This sounds most poetic and chivalrous,
but it is a mere formula of conventional politeness. It
would be pleasant to try it on one's employer in England,
but the experiment should be deferred until one is already
under notice to leave. The letters S.S.S. found likewise
in Spanish letters are short for su seguro servidor (your
obedient servant). " I remain yours truly " would pro-
bably be queda de Vd. Af™ atento y S.S. Carlos Fulano.
: .
Af710 is short for afectísimo (very devoted). Fulano, by

.
the way, is the Spanish equivalent of " so and so " what's

his name etc.
Exercise 30
i. Quisiera hacerme cortar el pelo, pero debemos darnos
prisa (or es preciso que nos demos prisa).
t
2. Si Vd. fuera
agente de bolsa tendríamos mucho dinero. 3. Si Vd. no
hubiera comprado un coche de segunda mano, habríamos
llegado ya a Barcelona. 4. Temía que tuviésemos que partir
antes del desayuno. 5. Estoy contento de estar de vuelta
en Inglaterra, pero iré el año proximo a España si tengo
bastante dinero. 6. Si no me hubiera cortado el pie, le
habría acompañado. 7. Tendremos justamente tiempo
para ir a verlos. 8. Acaba de volver de los Estados
Unidos después de haber pasado tres años en Nueva York.
9. ¿ Qué haría Vd. si fuera gobernador de la provincia ?
10. Si Vd. me hubiese pedido mi sobretodo se le hubiera dado.
EXERCISES 219
TABLE OF COMMON IRREGULAR VERBS

All tenses are not given. But by remembering the
following simple rules the student can easily determine
any tense from the parts of the verb that are shown.
1. The Imperfect, Past and Future Subjunctive tenses
can be formed by adding the endings shown in Lesson
XXIX to the first person of the Past Definite with the
terminal vowel removed.
2. The Conditional is identical with the Future Indica-
tive, save that the termination is ia not ¿.
3. With the exception of saber (sepa), haber (haya), dar
(dé), ser (sea), ir (vaya), the stem of the Present Subjunctive
is the same as that of the First Person Singular of the
Present Indicative.
4. The stem of the Imperfect Indicative is regular,
except in the case of ir (ib-), ver (ve-), and ser (er-).
Verbs whose irregularities depend only on orthographic

or radical-changing peculiarities, explained elsewhere, are,
for the most part, omitted. So also are compounds. For
convenir, proponer, etc., see the simple verbs venir, ponet
and so on.
éC
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TABLE OF COMMON IRREGULAR VERBS 221
I
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TABLE OF COMMON IRREGULAR VERBS
VOCABULARY
This Vocabulary does not include numerals, months,
etc., complete lists of which are given elsewhere in the
book. Nor does it include certain words which occur so
frequently that the student cannot fail to know them after
doing the first lesson or two. A few words, almost iden-
tical with their English equivalents, are likewise omitted.
The present indicative of each radical-changing verb
(otherwise regular) is shown in brackets after the infini-
tive. If no indicative is shown, it is safe to assume that
the verb is quite straightforward and normal. Exceptions
to this are the genuinely irregular verbs, in dealing with
which the student should refer to the table of irregular
verbs, printed immediately before this vocabulary. He
should bear in mind that the tenses of such verbs as
convenir or sostener may be found from the simple forme
venir and tener.
abogado, w. lawyer,
abrir . to open.
abuela(o) grandmother (grandfather),
aburrirse to be bored,
acabar to finish acabar de, to have
: just,
acceso, m. . access.
acción, /. share (stock market),
acomodador, w. . attendant, usher,
acerca near, about.
acercarse to draw near, approach,
aclarar to clear up.
acontecimiento, m. event, vicissitude,
acordarse (acuerdo) to remember,
acostarse (acuesto) to go to bed.
acostumbrarse to get used to, to accustom oneself
to.
además • • besides.
224
VOCABULARY 225
aduana, /. Custom House,

advertir (advierto) to notice, observe,
aeroplano, m. aeroplane,
agente de Bolsa . stockbroker,
agradable pleasant, agreeable,
agua,/. water.
aguardar to wait (for), expect,
agudeza, /. . point, repartee,
ahogarse to be drowned,
ahora now.
ala,/. . wing.
alargarse to stretch out.
alcalde, m. . mayor.
alcanzar to reach, attain,
aldea, /. village.
alegrarse to be glad, rejoice.
alejarse to withdraw, draw further off.
alemán German.
alfombra,/. . carpet.
algo . something, somewhat (adv.).
alguien someone.
alinearse to be aligned, be ranged, extend.
allí . there.
almohada, /. pillow.
almorzar (almuerzo) to lunch.
almuerzo, w. lunch.
alquilar to hire.
alrededor around, about.
los alrededores . the surroundings.
alto high, loud.
altura, /. height, altitude.
alumno, m. . pupil.
amarillo yellow.
ambos both.
a menudo repeatedly,
amigo, m. friend.
amo, m. " boss ".
añadir to add.
ancho . broad, wide,
anchura, /. . breadth,
andar . to walk, go.
afio, m. year,
anochecer, m. dusk.
anotar to note, take note of.
ansiar . to be anxious, eager,
antemano (de) beforehand,
anteojos, m. pl. spectacles.
anteriormente previously,
antes (adv.) before, beforehand,
apagar to extinguish, put out.
aparato, m. apparatus, instrument,
aparejarse to get ready,
aplicado hard working,
aprender to learn,
aquí . here.
arena, /. arena, sand.
arribay abajo up and down, to and fro.
armadura, /. armour.
arrojar to throw.
arroyuelo, w. small river, stream, watercourse.
asa, /. handle.
ascensor, m. lift.
asegurarse to make sure, ascertain,
asesinar to murder,
así so, thus,
asiento, m. seat.
asistir(a) to be present at.
asombrar to astonish, surprise,
asunto, m. affair, matter, business,
asustarse to be alarmed,
atento attentive,
aterrizar to land.
atormentar to torment, torture.
aumentar to increase.
aún yet, even.
aunque although.
auto (móvil), m. car, motor-car.
autor, m. author.
avenida, /. avenue.
avión, m. aeroplane.
ayer . yesterday.
azul blue.
B.
bajar . to bring down, go down.
balcón, m. balcony.
bamboleo, m. lurch, swaying.
bañar . to bathe.
banco . bench.
barato cheap.
barco, m. boat barco-tren, boat-train,
:
barra, /. bar.
VOCABULARY
barrioJ m. . quarter.
bastante . enough, sufficient.
batalla, /. . battle.
baúl, w. • trunk (luggage).
beber . , to drink.
belleza, /. . beauty.
blanco . white.
bolsillo, m. . pocket.
bondad, /. . goodness, kindness.
bonito . pretty.
bosque, m. . wood.
botella, /. . bottle.
bóveda, /. . vault, dome.
brazo, m. • arm.
brillar . to shine.
bueno . good, well.
bullicio, m. . bustle.
buscar • to look for, seek.
butaca, /. . stall.
C.
caballero, m. . gentleman.
caballo, m. , . horse.
cabeza, /. . head.
cacería, /. . chase, hunting.
cadena, /. . chain.
caer . . to fall.
café, m. . café, coffee.
calcetín, w. , . sock.
caliente . warm.
calle, /. . street.
calor, m. . heat, warmth.
cama, /. . bed.
camarero, m. . waiter.
cambiar . to change.
cambio, m. , . change, exchange.
camino, m. . . way, road.
campo, m. , . field.
cansado . tired, weary.
cantar , . to sing.
canto, m. . song.
capa, /. . cloak.
capilla, /. . chapel.
capítulo, m. . chapter.
cara, /. • face.
caro . . dear.
carretera, /. road, roadway,
carta, /. letter.
cartelera (de
espectáculos), /. list (of plays), theatre guide.
casado married.
casi almost.
caso, m. case.
célebre famous.
cenar . to sup, dine.
centenar, m. hundred.
centro, m. . centre.
cerca (de) near.
cero, m. zero.
cerrar (cierro) to close, shut.
cerveza, /. . beer.
cesta, /. basket.
cierto . certain, sure.
cigarillo, m. . cigarette.
cine, m. cinema.
cirujano, m, surgeon.
claro . clear.
clima, m. climate.
cocer (cuezo) to cook.
coche, m. carriage, car.
cocinera, /. . cook.
colgar (cuelgo) hang, hang up.
color de tez, m. complexion,
colorado red, coloured,
comedor, m. dining-room,
comer . to eat.
comerciante, m. . merchant, tradesman,
comercio, m. commerce.
comida, /. dinner.
compañero, m. companion.
compafiia, /. company.
compartimiento, m. compartment.
comprar to buy.
comprender . to understand,
conducir (-uzeo) . to lead, drive,
conocer (-ozco) to know.
conocimiento, m. . acquaintance, knowledge.
conseguir (-sigo) . to obtain, procure.
construir (-struyo) to construct, build.
contar (cuento) to relate, recount.
contestar to answer.
contienda, /. contest.
convencer (-enzo) . to convince.
VOCABULARY 229
convenir to suit, be convenient,
convidar to invite.
copa, /. cup, glass.
corazón, ra. . heart.
corbata, /. . tie.
coronar to crown.
correo, ra. post, mail.
correr . to run.
corrida de toros, /. bull-fight.
cortar . to cut.
corte, mí court.
cortés . polite.
i cosa, /. thing.
costa, /. coast, cost.
costar (cuesto) to cost.
costumbre, /. custom.
creer . to believe.
criado, ra. servant.
i cuadra, /. stable.
i cuadrado square.
1
cuadro, ra. . picture, square, frame,

cuartel (general),. ra (head) quarters,
cuarto, ra. . room,
rcuchillo, ra. . knife.
t cuenta, /. account :tener en cuenta, to take
into account, bear in mind,
i cuento, ra. . story,
cuesta, /. hill,
cuidado, ra. . care,
cumbre, /. . summit.
cumpleaños, ra. anniversary, birthday.
cuneta, /. ditch.
curva, /. curve.
D.
dar . to give,
datar . to date.
deber
decir
....
debajo (de)
....
. . . under, underneath.
to owe, to have to.
to say, to tell.
dedo, ra. finger.
defender (defiendo) to defend.
dejar . to leave, let.
delante (de) in front of, before.
demasiado , too, too much.
demostrar (demuestro) . to prove, demonstrate.
dentro (de) . within.
departamento, w. compartment, apartment.
dependiente, m. clerk.
deporte, tn. sport.
deprimido . depressed.
derrumbar . to pull down.
desaparecer (-ezco) to disappear.
desayunar . to have breakfast.
desayuno, m. breakfast.
desarrollar . to play (a part).
descansar to rest, repose.
descolgar (-cuelgo) to unhook, take down.
desde . since, from.
desear to desire, wish. _
desempeñar . to play (a part).
desgracia, /. misfortune.
deshacer to undo.
deslizarse to slip, glide down,
despacio slowly.
despedirse (-pido) to take leave of.
despertador, ra. awakener, knocker up.
despertar (despierto) to awake, wake up.
después (de) after.
desterrar (-tierro) to banish.
destruir (destruyo) to destroy.
detrás (de) . behind.
dicha . said.
dirigir (dirijo) to direct : (reflex.) to make one's
way.
discípulo, ra. pupil,
disponer to dispose,
divertir (divierto) to divert, amuse,
docto . learned,
dormir (duermo) to sleep,
duda, /. doubt,
durante during.
durar to last, continue.
E.
edificar to build,
edificio, ra. . building.
efecto, ra. effect en efecto, indeed,
:
ejercicio, ra. exercise,

elegir (elijo) to elect,
elevarse to rise.
embargo, ra. seizing : sin embargo, nevertheless.
VOCABULARY
embellecir (-ezco) . to beautify,
empezar (empiezo) to begin,
empleado, m. employee, clerk,
enamorarse . to fall in love,
encanto,.*». . charm,
encender (enciendo) to light,
encima above, over.
encontrar (encuentro) to meet (reflex.) to be, find
:
self,
enemigo, w. enemy.
enfadar to annoy, irritate.
engañar to deceive.
enojarse to get annoyed.
ensalada,/. . salad.
enseñar to teach.
entender (entiendo) to hear, understand.
entonces then.
entrada,/. . entrance.
entre . between, among.
entregar to hand over, deliver.
entretener . to entertain.
entusiasmar to delight, enrapture.
enviar to send.
época, f. age, epoch.
equipaje, m. luggage.
erigir (erijo) to erect.
escarpado . steep.
escenario, m. scenery, stage.
escoger (escojo) to choose.
escribir to write.
escritor, m. writer, author.
escuchar to listen, listen to.
espacioso spacious.
espada, /. sword.
espectador, m. spectator.
esperar to wait.
espeso thick.
espíritu, w. . spirit.
esquina, /. . corner.
establecer (-ezco) . to establish.
estación, /. . station, season.
estado, m. . state.
estallar to burst.
estante, m. . book-case.
estatua, /. . statue.
este east.
estilo, m. style.
estrecho narrow,
estudiar to study.
estupendo . wonderful, splendid.
etiqueta, /. . label.
éxito, m. success.
experimentar experience.
explicar to explain.
exposición, /. exhibition.
expreso, m. express.
extensión, /. length, extent.
extrañado . surprised.
extraño strange, odd.
extranjero . foreign, (noun) foreigner.
F.
facción,/. . . . feature,
fachada,/. . . . facade, front,
factura,/. . . . bill,
facturar . . .to register,
falta, /. mistake, fault,
fecha, /. date,
felicitar . . .to congratulate,
feo . . . ugly,
ferrocarril, m. . . railway,
fiesta,/. . . . feast, fete, festival,
fijarse
fin, m.
flor, /.
.
...
.
.
.
.
.to notice,
.
end, conclusion,
flower,
fósforo, m. . . . match,
freno, m. brake.
, frente, f. front, outside : de frente, facing,
frío . . . . cold,
frontera,/. . . . frontier,
fuente,/.
fuera
fuerte .
.... .
.
.
.
.
.
fountain,
away
strong,
: de fuera, outside,
fumar . . • .to smoke.

G.
gallo f m. cock,
ganar . . . .to gain, earn,
gastar . . .to spend, waste,
gastos, m. pi. . . expenses,
género, m. . . . . kind, sort,
gente, /. people,
gerente, m. . . . manager.
VOCABULARY 233
gobernador, m. governor.
golpe, m. blow, thud.
gozar . to relish, enjoy.
gracias, /. pi. thanks.
guerra, /. war.
guía, /. guide (book),
gustar to please, like,
gusto, m. pleasure.
H.
habilidad, /. skill,
habitación, /. room,
habitante, m inhabitant,
hablador talkative,
hacer . to do, make,
hacia . towards,
hallar . to find,
hambre, /. hunger.
hasta . until,up to, as far as.
herir (hiero) to wound,
hermoso beautiful, fine,
hora, /. hour.
hospedarse to put up (at),
hoy to-day.
t
imponente . imposing,
incluir (incluyo) to include,
inmenso immense,
invierno, m. winter,
ts facing. ir to go.
J.
jardín, m. garden,
jamás . ever,
joven . young,
juez, m. judge.
jugar (juego) to play (of games),
juzgar to judge.
L.
labrador, m. . . farmer,
lado, m. . . . side,
m.
ladrillo, . . . brick,
ladrón, w. . . . thief, robber.
lago,m. lake,
lámpara, /. lamp.
largo . long a lo largo, along.
:
lástima, /. pity.
lastimar to hurt.
lavar . to wash.
leer to read.
lejos . far.
lengua, /. tongue, language.
lentitud, /. slowness.
levantarse to get up.
libra, /. pound.
librería, /. bookshop.
librero, m. bookseller.
lidiar . to run (of bulls).
ligero . light, slight.
limpia-botas m. boot-black.
línea, /. line.
localidad, /. seat, place.
locomotora, locomotive, engine.
loro, m. parrot.
lucir (luzco) to shine.
lúgubre gloomy.
luz,/. . light.
LL.
llamar to call,
llegada, /. arrival,
llegar . to arrive,
lleno . full.
llevar . to bear, carry,
llover (llueve to rain.
M.
madre, /. mother,
madrugada, /. dawn,
maleta, /. suit-case,
malo . bad, ill.
mañana to-morrow, morning (/.).
mandadero, m, errand boy.
mandar to send, order.
manera, /. . manner, way.
mano, /. hand.
máquina de escribir, /. typewriter.
mar (m. or /.) sea.
marca, /. brand, make.
VOCABULARY *35
i marcha, /. . departure.
marearse to be sea-sick.
marido, m. . husband.
más more.
matar . to kill.
mayor elder, main.
medio . half, mid.
mejorar to improve.
melodioso . tuneful.
mendigo, m. beggar.
menor minor.
menos less.
•
mentir (miento) to lie.
mentira, /. . lie.
mercante merchant, mercantile,
mes, m. month.
miedo, m. fear tener miedo, to be afraid.
:
mientras while.
1 milla, /. mile.
1 mirar . to look at.
mismo self, same,
; mitad, /. half, middle,
modo, m. way, manner,
1 molestar to annoy.
i moneda, /. . coin, piece (of money).
1 montaña,/. . mountain.
1 morder (muerdo) to bite.
i morir (muero) to die.
1 morisco Moorish.
i mozo, m. porter.
muchacha (o) girl, (boy).
mucho much muchos, many.
:
-
muelle, m. . quay, wharf.
mujer,/. woman, wife.
mundo, m. . world.
muralla, /. . wall.
1 museo, tn. . museum.
N.
nacer (nazco) • to be born.
1 naciente • growing.
nada . . nothing.
naranja, /. . • orange.
naranjo, m. . , orange tree.
necesitar . to need.
negar (niego) • to deny.
negocios, m. pi. business.
negro . . black.
neumático, m. . tyre.
nieve, /. snow.
niño, m. . child.
nivel, m. level.
nobleza, /. . . nobility.
noche, /. . night.
nombre, m. -
. name.
norte, m. . north.
noticia, /. news.
novela, /. . novel, tale.
noviazgo, w. . betrothal, engagement.
nube, /. . cloud.
número, m. . . number.
O.
obedecer (-ezco) . to obey.
obispo, m. . . bishop.
obra, /. . work (of art).
obrero, m. . . workman.
ocultar . to hide.
oficial, m. . officer, official.
oficina, /. . office.
oir (oigo) . to hear.
olvidar . to forget.
ordenar . to order.
ordinario . ordinary.
orilla, /. . bank.
oscuro . dark.
otoño, m. . autumn.
otro . . other.
P.
padre, w. . father.
pagar . to pay.
página,/, . page.
país, m. . country.
paisaje,m. . landscape.
pájaro, m. . bird.
palabra, /. . word.
palacio, m. . palace.
palco, m. . box.
palmera, /. . palm tree.
pan, m. . bread.
panadero . baker.
VOCABULARY «37
panteón, m. . pantheon, mausoleum.
pañuelo, m. . . handkerchief.
papel, m. • paper, róle.
par, m. . pair.
para . . order to.
for, in
parada, f. . stopping place.
parar (se) . to stop.
parecer (parezco) . to seem, appear se parecer
: a, to
resemble, take after.
pared, /. . wall.
pariente, m. . relation.
parque, m. . . park.
parrilla, /. . . grid-iron.
parte, /. . part.
pasajero, w. . passenger.
pasar . . to pass.
pasear (se) . to walk.
paseo, m. . a walk.
patio, m. . court, courtyard.
pedir (pido) . . to ask, beg.
pegar . . to beat, thrash.
pelo, m. . hair.
pena, /. . regret.
pensar (pienso) . to think, intend.
peor . . worse.
perder (pierdo) . to lose.
pérdida, /. . . loss.
permanecer (-ezco¡ . to remain.
permitir . to permit.
pero . . but.
perro, m. . dog.
pertenecer (-ezco) . to belong.
pesar . . to weigh a pesar de, in spite
: of.
pescado, w. . . fish : barco de pesca, fishing boat.
pie, m. . foot.
piedra, /. . stone.
pierna, /. . leg.
pintar . to paint.
pintoresco • . picturesque.
piso, w. . floor, story.
pitillera, /. • . cigarette case.
plan, m. . plan, scheme.
plano, m. . plan, drawing.
plaza, /. . square plaza de toros, bull-ring.
:
poder . to be able.
pollo, m. . chicken.
poner . . to put, put on.
por . by, for : porque, because : por (lo)
tanto", consequently.
posada, /. . inn.
postal (adj.) . . post (al) : (noun, fern.), postcard.
precio, m. . price.
precipitado . . hasty.
preciso . necessary.
preferir (prefiero) . to prefer.
preguntar . to ask.
presentar . to present, introduce.
prestar . to lend.
prima (o) . cousin.
primavera, /. . spring.
principio, m. . beginning.
profundo . deep.
prometer . to promise.
pronto . quick, prompt.
pronunciar . . to pronounce, deliver.
propina, /. . . tip, gratuity.
proprietario, m. owner, landlord.
pueblecito, m. small town.
pueblo, m. . town.
puente, m. . bridge.
puerta, /. . door, gate.
puerto, m. . harbour.
puesto que . seeing that, since.
punta, /. . point, tip.
punto, m. . point, dot.
q.
quedar . to remain.
querer (quiero) . to wish, want, love.
queso, m. . cheese.
quienquiera . . whoever.
quitar . to take away, take ofi.
quizá(s) . perhaps.
R.
radio,/, wireless.
rato, m. . moment, while.
rayo, m. . ray.
razón, /. . reason : tener razón, to be right,
real . royal.
recibir to receive.
reconocer (-ozco) . . to recognise.
recordar (recuerdo) . to remember.
VOCABULARY 239
recorrer # . .to traverse, make the round oí.

recto . . . straight.
referirse (refiero) . . to refer.
reflejar . . .to reflect.
regalo, m. . . present.
regreso, m. . . . return.
rehacer . . . to do again, remake.
rehusar . . .to refuse.
reino, m. . . kingdom.
reir (río) . . .to laugh.
reloj, m. watch : reloj de pulsera, wrist-
watch.
replicar . . .to reply,
representación, /. . . performance,
requerido . . . required,
resfriado, m. . . cold, chill,
resto, m. . . remains, rest,
retrato, m. . . . portrait,
revisar . . .to examine,
rey, m. .
"• king,
rezar .
. . .to pray,
riachuelo, m.
rico
río,m.
....
. .
.
.
.
.
small river, stream,
rich,
river,
robar . . . .to rob.
roca, /. . . . rock, cliff,
rodear
rojo
romper
.... .
.
.
.
.to surround,
red.
.to break,
ropa, /. . clothes,
....
. .
ruido, m. . noise,
ruso Russian,
ruta,/. . . . route.
S.
saber . to know.
salir to go out, leave.
sano y salvo safe and sound.
sastre, m. tailor.
satisfecho satisfied.
sed, f. thirst.
seguir (sigo) to follow.
según . according to.
segundo second.
seguro sure, certain.
sello, m. stamp.
*40 TEACH YOURSELF SPANISH
señalar . . to point out, indicate,
sencillo . simple.
sentarse (siento) . . to sit down.
sentido, m. . sense, respect.
sentir (siento) • to feel, regret.
servir (sirvo) . to serve.
siempre . always.
siglo, m. . century.
siguiente . following.
silla, /. . chair.
sino . but.
soberbio . proud, haughty.
sobre . . on, over, above.
sobrecargo, m. . extra charge.
sobretodo, m. . overcoat.
sobrevivir . . to survive.
sociedad anónima
agregada, /. . joint stock company.
sol, m. . sun.
solo . only, alone.
sombrero, m. . hat.
sonreir (sonrío) . to smile.
sorprender . . to surprise.
sostener to hold, sustain.
subir . . to go up, bring up.
suceder . to happen, succeed.
sucesor, m. . . successor.
suelo, m. . ground.
sueño, w. . sleep.
suerte, /. . chance, fate.
suma, /. . sum.
superior . superior, upper.
suponer . to suppose.
sur . south.
T.
tacón, m. . . • heel (of shoe).
tallar . . . .to fashion, carve.
también . . . also.
tampoco . . . neither, not either.
tardar . . .to delay, take long.
tarde, /. afternoon.
tarde, adv. . . . late.
tarjeta,/. . . . card.
taza,/. . . . cup.
teatro, m. . . . theatre.
VOCABULARY 241
teja, /. tile,
tejado, m. roof,
telón, m. curtain,
temer . to fear,
temprano early.
tendero, m. shop-keeper.
tener . to have, hold : tener que, to have
to.
tentación, /. temptation.
terminar to end, finish.
tía(o) . aunt, uncle.
tiempo, m. time, weather.
tienda, /. shop.
tinta, /. ink.
tipo, m. type.
tocar . to touch, play (oí instruments).
tomar . to take.
torero, m. bull-fighter.
toro, m. bull.
torre, /. tower.
tortuga, /. tortoise, turtle,
tostar (tuesto) to toast, roast,
trabajador, m. worker,
trabajar to work,
trabajo, m. . work.
traducir (-uzeo) to translate,
traer . to bring, bear,
traje, m. costume, suit,
trama, /. plot.
tranvía, m. . tramway, tram-car.
tratar . to treat tratarse,
: to be about,
concern,
travesía, /. . crossing,
tren, m. train.
tropa, /. troops, soldiery, crowd,
turismo, m. . touring.
XL ,
último last.
unir . to unite.
vaca, /. cow.
vacación, /. holiday.
vacío, m. vacuum, void : vacío de aire, air-
pocket.
.

vacío, adj. . empty.
vagón-restaurant, m. restaurant-car.
valentía, /. courage,
valer . to be worth,
valiente brave,
vaso, m. glass, vase,
vecindad, /. neighbourhood
vecino, m. neighbour (adj.) neighbouring.
:
vencer (venzo) to conquer.

vendedor, m. seller, vendor.
vender to sell.
venir . to come.
ventana, /. window.
ventanilla, /. grill, small window.
ver to see.
verano, m. summer.
verdad, /. truth.
vestirse to dress, get dressed,
vez, /. time.
vía,/. . way, track,
viajar . to travel,
viaje, m. trip, journey,
vida, /. life,
viejo . old.
vino, m. wine : vino de Jerez, sherry,
visitar to visit.
víspera, /. eve, day before,
vivir . to live,
volar (vuelo) to fly.
volver (vuelvo) to return,
voz, /. voice.
Y.
ya already, indeed, now.
yacer to He.
Z.
zapatero, m, shoemaker.
zapato, m. shoe.
zorro, m. fox.
zumbido, m. humming, buzzing.
sPWshOOwils
spWshOOwils
SPANISH
As a language of world importance, Spanish rivals
French and German. There are over 1 1 5 million
speakers of the language in the world, both in South
America and Spain, and obviously a knowledge of
Spanish is useful - not only to the student but also to
the tourist and the businessman
Because of its phonetic simplicity and the basic
regularity of its grammatical forms, Spanish is a
relatively easy language to learn. This book takes the
reader through a series of graded lessons which have
been designed both for use in the classroom and for
study at home. Each lesson comes complete with
exercises and translation pieces and the aim is that
the reader, on working his way through the course,
should have a sound command of Spanish.
'Anyone who works through this volume

intelligently should be able to read and speak
Spanish. No student should fail to obtain this
excellent course'
Journal of the Incorporated Association of
Assistant Masters
Published in the U.S.A. by
DAVID McKAY
Park Avenue,
Send
New
for complete
Co., Inc.
York. N.Y. 10016
list
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of Teach Yourself titles
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IK TEACH YOURSELF BOOKS

This book hopes to make the task of learning Spanish pleas-

TEACH YOURSELF BOOKS

Copyright Notice: No part of this publication may be

This volume is published in the U.S.A. by David McKay

isbn o 340 05819 6

Printed in Great Britain

It is the purpose of this book to enable you to do so.

P.S. —There are certain differences between the Spanish

the Spanish into English and check by reference to

when we come across it, this mistake and others, inevitable

VII. INTERROGATIVES —REGULAR VERBS .

X. THE PAST DEFINITE TENSE —COMMON PRE-

XIV. RELATIVE PRONOUNS

KEY TO EXERCISES AND TRANSLATIONS . . . IÓ2

No one can learn to pronounce Spanish properly from a

i6 TEACH YOURSELF SPANISH

(1) To indicate that the emphasis or stress is to be

(3) To distinguish between words spelt alike but of

e sounds like ay, the vowel-sound in late * or y sounds

like ee, the vowel-sound in feet o sounds like o, the vowel-

sound in rope u sounds like oo, the vowel-sound in hoot.

Note, (i) The vowels are clearly pronounced in Spanish,

Again, a word ending in a consonant (other than n or

Finally, follows that all words accented on a syllable

should come on the second syllable; as it does not, the

last syllable but one. In iglesia church, the stress falls«

in English; the letter w is pronounced according to the

Examples : centro = centre ; vecino = neighbour

ch is pronounced like ch in charm.

Examples : muchacho — boy ; mucho = much.

Examples : diente = tooth ; donde =» where ; marido =

h, for all practical purposes, is not pronounced.

U has the sound of lit in the English million.

Examples : caballo = horse ; calle » street.

In many parts of Spain 11 is pronounced like a double y t

but the student should avoid this.

q, always followed, as in English, by u, has the sound of

Examples : quince =* fifteen ;

r is rolled more than in English, especially at the begin-

Examples : tomar — to take ; río = river ; geografía

t is pronounced more sharply and vigorously than in

Example : viejo — old.

y is only a consonant at the beginning of a word or

x sounds like th in thin.

Examples : zapato mm shoe ; juez judge ; brazo mm

I. uno (mase), una (fern. 1, pronounced oóno, oóna.

una iglesia = a church, would sound u-nai-gle-sia.

Siguiendo el curso del arroyo, y sobre todo en

árboles altos, que, con las matas y hierbas,

VERBS AND PRONOUNS

In English the pronoun / is always written with a

-a,-amos, -áis and -an.

person. The person spoken to is always second person :

so tú and vosotros, meaning thou &nd you, are second person.

so ¿l (ella) and ellos (Mas), meaning he (she) and they, ara

alike. These endings are well worth noting, firstly because,

(a) Put the proper pronouns before the following verbs :

(1) compramos; (2) hablas; (3) trabajan; (4) andáis; (5)

(6) nosotros dejar-; (7) tú trabajar-; (8) yo vivir-; (9)

(c) The verb comprar (to buy) exactly resembles our

We now come to a point of great importance. The

26 TEACH YOURSELF SPANISH